In Times Like These

By Valerie Jones

This book is written to bring hope, encouragement, and comfort in these chaotic times to believers and nonbelievers. Many people are hurting and wounded globally. In 2019, the coronavirus shook our nation. Businesses closed, unemployment was on the rise and, many people lost loved ones. Fear and anxiety tried to overshadow our very being, but the love of God still stands strong. Through the Scriptures and inspired words, you can experience a deeper relationship with God that can encourage you in your walk with the Lord.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669862024

Valerie Jones

Valerie is the mother of two adult children. She finds fulfillment and enjoyment in reading and staying abreast of current and social issues, writing, spending time with family, quiet walks in parks, listening to music, attending plays and traveling. In the last several years (other than her children) the most meaningful use of her time has entailed finishing what her big sister Veronica Jones started—an account of her life and her involvement in the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Valerie makes her home in New Jersey,

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CONTENTS

Dedication

The Door

Man In The Mirror

Can You Stand?

I Am Here

Rose

He Brought Me From A Mighty Long Way

Get The Job Done

It Is Finished

I’m Coming Back

I Will Pt.1

I Will Pt.2

I Am Your Healer

I Am Here, Lord

I Am Saved

I Am Redeemed

I’m Free

The Times

What Are You Watching?

Forgive

Anger

Bitterness

Perspective

Lost And Found

Sleep

I’m Sorry

Light

Obedience

The Son

The Father

Thankful

Give

Rest

Remember

DEDICATION

With God all things are possible (MT19:26). To God be the glory, honor and praise. To my family, church family, and friends who prayed and encouraged me in my journey.

THE DOOR

When I was a little girl the neighbors would look out for you. It was more peaceful. At that time, it was a safer time, and we would go in and out of doors. If we forgot the key, that was okay; we just closed the door and that would be it. Everything was still in the house when you got back. As I grew up a little more we started putting locks on the doors even more, and today, we use full alarm systems. Why did we do this? For security and protection. And we do need protection in the world that we’re in. We are in the midst of a pandemic, but even before the pandemic, the world was getting crazier, and people wanted to protect themselves with alarm systems and the different locks they used to protect their homes. I was just reading in John, chapter 10, verse 9 where Jesus says, I am the door by if any man enter in he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture.

I’m saying, Wow. That is something. I said, What is this, ‘go in and out and find pasture’? And then I was listening to Dr. Michael Youssef last weekend. I heard him break down the time that Jesus walked the earth. The sheep were in an enclosed area, an enclosure, and the shepherd would let them go in and out, but there was no door. There was a hedge around the sheep; it might have been a circle, a rectangle, or a square, but they were in an enclosed area, so I said, Well, what happens when there’s no door. What the shepherd did was to lie down in front of the area where the sheep go in and come out. He lay down every night to protect his sheep from the wolf, their enemy, so if anything tried to get in, any wolf or anything, he was there to fight for them and protect them. This is the protection that we have with Jesus. He says, I am the door. He laid down his life for us so that we would be protected and so that we would be saved because the verse says, If you enter in, you shall be saved (John 10:9). I thank God for that. That is good news because the door is Jesus; it’s his truth. When you enter in, you are saved, and you’ll have peace of mind in the world. There’s nothing that can give you really peace of mind. John 14:27 says, I leave with you my peace I give unto you my peace I leave it with you. And then it says, Not as the world gives.

I remember when I was younger; my grandmother used to tell me, There’s nothing out there good for you, girl, where you’re going. you’re going to the clubs. You’re going to the bars. There’s nothing out there good for you. You better come on in and give your life to Christ, getting the word. And at that time I’m saying this, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about, but then, once I entered in and once I gave my life to Christ, once I surrendered, then I understood the world has nothing good to give me. It makes promises and breaks them, but Jesus to every word I say. Jesus said that every word he says is true; he gives us his promises, and these are never broken. We are made alive when we go through the door.

Colossians 2:13 says, Then God made you alive with Christ because he is in you. John 10:9 says, We go in and out and find pasture. Pasture means provision; he provides for us, and he keeps us from having anxiety and depression. That’s the peace that he gives us because the world is so wicked.

Some people are afraid, but he says, Don’t worry. Don’t be afraid. Fear not. I’m the one that’s protecting you.

And I say, Lord, give us the mind of Christ. Thank you, Father, for being a door for us so that we can go in and out and find peace. We can go in and fill ourselves up with the word, and we can go out and tell someone else what the Lord has done for us and be at peace doing it. I thank God for the word of God. I thank God for his son, Jesus. Believe him. God bless you.

Reflections

MAN IN THE MIRROR

What do you see when you look in the mirror? You’re just there by yourself, all alone. Do you ever look at yourself and think, What if I had done this, or maybe, I shouldn’t have done that? That was the wrong thing to do? Or you can look at yourself and say, Well, I’m patting myself on the back for this one. I did that pretty good.

I was just looking at the story of Jacob in Genesis chapter 32, and Jacob was a man. His name Jacob meant a grabber or deceiver. When Jacob came out of the womb, he grabbed his brother’s heel and made himself somehow to be the first, so it started from there. But anyway, as Jacob and Esau grew up to be young men; their father grew elderly, and in their culture, the father would bless the oldest son. When Isaac, their father, was about to pass away and the firstborn or the oldest Esau was supposed to get the blessing, Jacob lied to his father, pretended to be Esau. He told his father that he was Esau, and he actually stole his brother’s birthright. When his brother found out about it, Jacob had to leave town, and he went to live with his uncle Laban.

When he lived there, he moved there; he fell in love with his daughter Rachel, and he asked Laban for her hand in marriage, Laban said, I’ll give you her hand, but you have to work for me for seven years. So Jacob agreed, but Laban had an older daughter named Leah, and when it was time for Jacob to marry Rachel in the seventh year, Laban tricked him as Jacob had tricked his father and his brother. Laban said, You have to marry my older daughter first and work another seven years for Rachel.

So the word of God is truth. He says God is not mocked: whatever a man soweth that’s how he also reaps. But even in that, God is still merciful. Some of the best things happen to us when we’re alone with God, and even when we’re in a crisis, a lot of times when we really come to God with a whole heart we’re in crisis you know and we’re alone, just like Moses. He was alone. Moses ran because he murdered an Egyptian, and this bothered him. He ran right to Midian. There he saw a burning bush, and then he met the Lord. He saw a burning bush that could not be consumed. In Exodus chapter 3, verse 2, the Lord let him know that he was going to free the Israelites, and a lot of times when things like this happen, we make excuses. I believe Moses said, I can’t talk. I don’t speak well. Even Gideon, the Lord sent an angel to him in Judges chapter 6, verse 12, and he said he let Gideon know that he was going to free people also, but Gideon had a lot of doubts in his mind. And the woman at the well story in the Good Samaritan story, Jesus came along and basically told her to give him a drink, and she says, What does a Jew have to do with a Samartian? It lets us know that Jesus is for everyone, not just certain people he’s for everyone. Nicodemus was a bigshot Sanhedrin, and he heard Jesus speak, but he didn’t come in the daytime because he didn’t want anybody to see him. He went to see Jesus alone at night, and mind you, sometimes Nick comes at night. Amen.

And he was alone. Anytime we’re alone with Jesus, it’s for our benefit, even when we’re in a crisis or in a bad situation.

I was sitting next to a toilet bowl, when I felt such a crisis in my mind. I was being attacked by all kinds of negative thoughts, and I said, God, you have to get me out of this.

I was alone, and