THE AFTERLIFE

This talk isn’t about Life after Death. We’re not going to be discussing whether someone is going to Heaven or Hell.

This talk is about The Life, After Life, has Life’d you. The AfterLife!

Everyday life can come with a set of new challenges that test our resolve. No one likes going through a difficult situation.

You know how sometimes you can feel as if the thing you are going through could very well be the end of you?

We think to ourselves, this is going to take me out!

It’s easy to want to give up and say this is going to destroy me. There’s no way I can come through this!

But it’s Not, it didn’t! That’s because there is always The AfterLife.

After divorce, there is still a life to be lived. After the loss of a loved one, there is still a life to be lived. After your most unimaginable event, there was still an AfterLife. After the hurt, the break up, the sickness, the long term illness, a job firing, failures, a fall, accidents, bankruptcy, calamity, catastrophe, and even death, yes death, there is still existence, a life to be lived. The AfterLife!

What do you do after Life, has Life’d you?

We’ve all been Life’d, and we will be again and again, several times over.

It’s not if, but when. What will you do the next time Life, Life’s you?

Life can be tough sometimes, but it is also an opportunity for growth.

God’s word says that we shouldn’t be surprised by the tests that life brings our way. They have come to make us stronger.

Nothing makes us grow more than an obstacle that we have overcome.

Every success story speaks of how someone faced up to their challenge and overcame it, and as a result it made them a better version of themselves that they would have never known were they not Life’d.

The way you Life after Life has Life’d you is by Lifing.

Yeah, you Life, Life right back. You say to it I aint going nowhere. I will live on. I do have an AfterLife.

What now? Stay with me here. Let’s look at the definition of Life.

Life has been defined as having these 7 characteristics.

1. Respire/Take a Breath. You Breathe. Inhale/Exhale.

2. Metabolize/ Process. Think it, Feel it, Refine it and then Release it.

3. Excrete/Push some stuff out. Get rid of the bad/refuse. Dump it.

4. Responsive. Don’t just accept it, offer a quick reply. Give a Retort.

5. Move. Don’t get stuck in this event. Keep it moving.

6. Growth/Don’t Stop evolving, learning.

7. Reproduce. Make something out of what you’re going through. Use it.

We could stop right here and that would be more than enough to sustain us through a storm if we applied these responses to when we get Life’d.

Breathe, Process it, Excrete, Reply, Keep it moving, Grow, Reproduce.

There will always be a next time. When you get Life’d respond with Life!

Oftentimes the area that we get challenged in, is the very area that we need to grow in.

There is a Proverb that says “If you faint in the day of adversity then your Faith will be small” Proverbs 24:10

Then the inverse of this statement is also true. As we stand through adversity our Faith grows.

Enduring the challenge causes us to change from a fixed/static mindset to an opportunity for growth mindset.

This is not a setback it is a setup for an opportunity for me to grow.

Blessings often are disguised as challenges. “No” ignites change.

We begin to believe that no matter what God will see us through it.

Every time we get challenged it should be viewed as an opportunity to learn something about ourselves.

A limitation, areas where we need improvement, or a weaknesses.

To truly see greatness our faith must be stretched.

There will always be an AfterLife. The difference is in how we respond.

When we get Life’d it doesn’t kill us. We might die, but that event, person, or situation didn’t kill us. We chose to die.

Let’s look at the characteristics of Death.

1. No Reflexes/Stop moving. Stuck in that same position.

2. Loss of Respiration. We don’t breathe anymore. We stop trying.

3. Unresponsive. Emotionally detached. Catatonic. Checked out

4. No eye movement. We’ve Lost All Hope. No vision of a Future.

You’re not dead, so don’t play dead. Stop acting like you are.

“The greatest revenge is Living Well”. So go ahead and Live Well!

The next time you get Life’d…Breathe, Process your way through what just happened, Excrete the toxicants, Keep it Moving, Grow from what that situation taught you and Repurpose your Plan.

Learn to Live Well My Friend. God gave you Life! Believe in Change.

Embrace the discomfort, do your best to overcome your own limitations, because that is how we face every challenge — and give ourselves the chance to rise above our old self and become a new and better version.

This is a Thompson Truth