Saying Goodbye to My Sister

Never speak bad about someone until you’ve walked a mile in their moccasins, goes the old saying. Don’t judge until we have experienced the same sorrow, pain, and despair.

In my sister Vicki’s case, it was too easy for me to judge her, for I did not live her life of needles and spoons.

But she is at peace now. She’s sleeping, not needing to artificially fill that ancient void in her heart and soul. She’ll no longer wander aimlessly, cruelly tossed by the white powdered tyrant of her wants and needs.

God is her Judge. Not me. And yet, I wish it could have been different between us, that we could have been closer, but our paths did not peacefully align.

And so I commend her now into the arms of God’s angels, those kind spirits that carry our spirits back to God, when we fall asleep for the last time here on earth.

I love you, my little sister, my only earthly sibling, the little blonde-headed thing that tried to play catch with me, her big brother, the big brother she never failed to express her love to—until the end.

Goodbye, my dear.

Wayne

The Cure for Depression

I have found a surefire cure for depression.  It is simple, natural–well, it is really spiritual–and it is free.  No money, clinics, or doctors needed.  The only physician involved in this cure  is the Great Physician.

The cure?  Depression is cured when the sufferer just sits down and thanks God for his blessings.  For a state of depression and a grateful heart cannot co-exist.  There is no such thing as a depressed praiser of God.

As the Savior taught, at the bottom of most maladies we will find a spiritual cause.  Think about it.  When was the last time you saw someone depressed, sitting there on their couch and saying to you, “My friend.  Thank you for coming to visit.  I was just thinking about you.  You know, I thank God for the wonderful friends and family I have.”  That grateful heart cannot utter a depression-filled negative thought.  A depressed grateful person is an oxymoron.  Those two cannot go together.  Impossible.

Depression, sadness, and worry spring from self-centered  thinking.  A depressed person only thinks of themselves.  It all centers on self.  Woe is me! they will say.  Self-pity, fear of what others think, and selfish thoughts cannot exist in a mind and heart that is thankful to God.  It is impossible.

So what can the depressed do?  They simply must stop the negative thinking, just for a moment.  Then think about God and say, “Thank you, God, for _________________.”  Everyone can fill in the blank with one thing.  Sunshine, air, food, a son, a daughter, a wife that has stuck with them through thick and thin, a husband who works and brings home bread and milk.  Hey, fill in the blank with something, and in that very instant of thanksgiving, the depression begins to lift.

The darker the hour, the more need to thank Him.  “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus (Yahshua) concerning you” [1].  Everything.  The “good” and the “bad.” 

For we must realize that God has deliberately built in hardships and sufferings, so that our belief in Him may be purified [2], and that joy may abound within us.  But most people get down, blame others, or blame themselves, instead of seeing this truth: “Acknowledge Him in all our ways, and He shall direct our paths” [3]

We then, should realize that when negativity attacks our minds through self-centered thoughts bringing on depression,  we should simply thank God.  For depression is caused by negative thoughts that cannot co-inhabit a grateful mind.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock

1. I Thess. 5: 18
2. I Peter 1: 6-7
3. Proverbs 3: 6

Prologue–Christ’s New Commandment

Christ’s New Commandment issues organically out of God’s purpose. Every thought and action has a purpose. God’s purpose is the reproduction of Himself. “God is love.” Therefore, His purpose is to reproduce agape love.

God has a plan to accomplish His purpose. It is to use human beings to reproduce Himself in. Because it takes time, His plan has been written down and has come to us in the Holy Bible. But unfortunately, it is a closed book for most readers. It is full of mysteries because people do not know God’s purpose in creating the earth and the human beings teeming on its surface.

Christ said, “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34). In short, we are commanded to love each other like He loved us.

So, how do we obey His command? We have been taught that we cannot be like Christ. Yet, He tells us to be like Him, to love like Him. Do we look at John 13:34 and turn our backs and say, He really didn’t mean what He said? Or do we ask Him to open our eyes and hearts to solve the mysterious command?

We better obey Him. He is the great Teacher. He created all things, so surely He will show us how to obey His New Commandment (Col. 1:16). He does this by giving us a series of specific commands, or commandments, that we can study out and apply in our lives.

For example, He commanded us to forgive each other (Mark 11:25). When we forgive, God’s Spirit grows within us, much like our muscles grow when we use them. God’s purpose is for Him to grow in us to a point that it is all Him inside of us. This is how God will reproduce Himself in us.

His New Commandment is to love each other the way He loved us. Under this overarching Commandment are many other commandments. When we obey them, we will have loved each other with Christ’s love. Christ knows that it is a big order to fill for us. So He breaks it down into smaller steps. We ask Him for more of His Spirit in order that we may forgive, thus loving that person who has offended us. For it is only His Spirit now growing in us that does the loving.

The first section of this book will give more background information. The second section will address several of Christ’s new commandments in detail. We will not attempt to elucidate all of the new commandments of Christ. They are like pearls just under the sand, waiting for the pilgrim to discover them. It is our hope that this book will bring awareness of the commandments and their importance for our spiritual growth, that it may be used to carry us all on down the road to immortality, that God may reproduce Himself in each of us.

{This is the Prologue for the new book that I am working on. It is called Christ’s New Commandment. Our job as Christians is to help each other grow till it is fully “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27). Be sure to order one of my books. They are free with free shipping in the USA and a pdf to requests from overseas: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/donate/ }