A Life That Still Speaks- Tribute to Toni

Transcript

Dedicating The Day To Tony

Psalm 118:17 And Holding On

Kindness Under Pressure

Her Impact On My Calling

We All Cross The River

Salvation Basics And God’s Answers

Farewell And How To Reach Us

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Hello everybody and welcome to today's episode of Walk With Me. I am your host, JJ. It's so good to have each and every one of you here. So glad that you're liking and sharing and commenting on this post, on these uh episodes and this podcast. Without you, there's no reason for me. And without me, well, God will find someone else to do the word, right? Amen. Amen. So I'm really so glad that each and every one of you are here. Uh, you might I'm just gonna jump right into uh today's episode. You probably can tell there's a difference in my voice today, because uh I and I'm kind of freestyling it today, so you guys just kind of bear with me. Uh, remember I love each and every one of you. Um, and I just wanted to say that today, instead of continuing with our our end-time prophecy Bible study, uh, which we will continue next week. We will continue it next week. Um, today I would like to dedicate this episode uh to one of the very, very first listeners of this podcast. And the reason why we're doing this is because I learned yesterday that this listener went home to meet the Lord, and uh it was it was a pretty hard moment, and um that listener was one of my very, very first listeners. In fact, um it was questions from her that really um allowed me to listen to God by saying to even start the podcast. So if y'all would permit me, just this one week, um, to just sort of freestyle and dedicate an app an episode to our good friend, fellow walker, Tony Ruth. Now, Tony Ruth and I, we were friends for quite a well, Facebook friends. We weren't actually well, I never met her in person, but we were Facebook friends for a long time. And when we started the podcast back in 2020, she has been here faithfully ever since. And um one of the things that really struck me with Miss Ruth was that when people get on social media, they always we we always try to project the persona that we want people to see. We we want to be successful, we want to be hard-body, we want to be tough, we want to have snappy comebacks, and we but this was not Miss Tony Ruth. And uh through conversation, I knew that she had gone through quite a lot of things in her lifetime. You know, she didn't have an easy life, and you know, and just like all of us, we we make choices here or there, and and sometimes choices work out and sometimes they don't, but um they the outcomes are always the will of God, you know. So, and without going into too much, one of the the things that we would talk back and forth about is Psalm 118. Psalm 118 verse 17. Uh, last the last two or three years, um, she shared some things with me, and that verse, Psalm 118-17, is I shall not die, but live and declare the works of the Lord. And she actually heard my pastor preach that uh because she used to watch the um church services online, 13th Street Church of God online, and you know, we talked about that verse for you know end on end. Okay, so uh it was just one of the things I would just drop in her in uh her inbox every just randomly. I shall not die but live in the declared works of the Lord. Now, um I cannot sit here behind this microphone and say that I would face um certain news fearlessly. I can't because I've I've never had um I've never had to face that yet. But watching her face the news that she faced and the struggle that she went through and to still be the same benevolent person, she never got bitter at the Lord, or at least she never showed it to us. I I don't know, you know. I I I'm not gonna sit here and say I was with her 24 hours a day or anything like that, but um, whenever she dealt with anybody, she was anybody that is that knew her, knew that she was very benevolent, very sweet, very kind. She, as a matter of fact, I mean, as far as as worldly presentation go, she was pretty much everything that we should aspire to be. No matter what trial we're going through, or you know, what challenges we're facing, and sometimes you and I, we all know uh that when things get hard, we react in some maybe unfavorable ways. Some of us get snappy, some of us withdraw, uh, some of us, you know, we get mad at God, we get bitter at God. I I some of us um just aren't um as as put together or as composed as we would like to think ourselves to be. Well, let me tell y'all something. Miss Ruth, every time we would talk and she would say some of the nicest things to me, and I would feel like I didn't deserve to be spoken to that way. And no matter what she went through, she always had a kind word for somebody. Um, we had mutual friends, and and they were going through some pretty rough things in their life, and and no matter what she was going through, she always had time, she always could find time, make time to go out of her way, to leave an encouraging word or or like a meme with a hug or something like that. And that's very rare to find these days because we are you know in our flesh, we are often self-centered, and when you face things like um the your coming end, it has to be scary, it has to be. You know, I'm I'm not gonna sit here and lie and pretend I'm spiritual Superman, but I I've never been in that situation, so I I really can't tell you. The only thing I can say is that you know, pray now, and and then when you get to that phrase in your life, that you may still have some spiritual oil, you know, that you can fall back on. Um but with her, um, as a matter of fact, like I said, we were talking back and forth about me going into ministry and how I was feeling that call, but I was there were some other things that I really wanted to do, and and by other things I mean non-Christian things, um, worldly things, sinful things actually. And and she encouraged me, um, and and said a lot of things that made me think, see, it we don't know, we don't really know the kind of effect we have on other people. Um, it even to have someone that you that I've never met in person to finally give me that final push into what God had already been telling me to do, which I had been resisting for. I I I admit that now. Um I had been resisting it for so long. So long. Like I felt like I wasn't worth it. I I wasn't worthy, I wasn't good enough, I I wasn't holy enough, I I wasn't, you know, I didn't want to be a hypocrite, you know. Um but there's sometimes you can have such a positive um effect on the person and not even have met them. And that's the thing that really, really astounds me. I've never seen Miss Ruth face to face. I if if you showed me a picture, Miss Ruth, I would not know her picture. Only thing, only picture of her I know was some old grainy picture from like 1975. And and it was literally, and I know some of y'all gonna laugh, but and and I don't want to offend anybody, but literally this picture was like looking at a picture of you know how you get the the old grainy pixelated blackness monster or or or sasquatch pictures that somebody took in the uh woods with an etching sketch. I mean, I would not, I say not to say I would not know Ms. Ruth if I saw her. If she walked up to me and said hi, JJ, I would not know who that is. Uh, but the conversations that we had, the encouragement that we had back and forth um between each other really had a positive impact, and not just on me, not just on this podcast, this show, uh, but to other people who are still working out how they're going to live for God. They're still working out um their their faith. And at the end of the day, at the end of the day, this is what being a witness is about, I think. Um, even if and and you don't have to get to a certain level to be able to do that, to have a positive impact on somebody. You don't have to be able to quote 9,000 scriptures, and and you don't have to be able to preach an hour-long sermon in order to um in order to have that kind of uh impact on somebody. But Miss Ruth had that impact on us. Um you, me, anybody, because we don't know, like if you haven't let's go back here because we talked about this podcast before it became the podcast, and and I just you know it just sort of pushed me into giving starting the podcast, and so everyone who's now a part of this Walker community can can thank God for sending Tony Rue to us. And now that God has saw fit to take her home and to have a conversation with him, um I it's I'm not gonna sit here and act like I'm not hurting, which is weird. Again, I've never seen her, I've never met her in person. Um but we have so many mutual friends that people calling me and and texting me that she had gone home to meet the Lord. And you know, I I know that um I know that when we get to when we have services and things of that nature, we we talk about a lot of memories and things of that nature, but you know, one of the things that we have to be careful of and and we have to um keep in mind is that we all must pass through that gate. We all must cross that river at some time. We all have to. And once we cross that gate, once we go over that river, it's too late to change things that we wish we could have changed. It's too late to do the I woulda coulda shoulda. You know, I I I had toy with the idea of uh, you know, my wife and I going up there and sitting down with her just to talk, you know. And I always kind of thought, because you know, I worked a lot of hours and do the podcast and everything. And uh my wife she works a lot of hours and all of that. Um we we just didn't. We oh well we you know, hey, you know what? I gotta go to New Jersey. And on my way to New Jersey, I maybe I should, you know, call her and see if we could go have lunch or something, all of us together. And uh I never did. I never did. Um I I pray because she's in the hands of a loving, just, and fair God. And I pray that if I hold it together and and stay faithful, I pray that I meet her again in glory. And this is what we should all be aspiring to. I I'm not one of these guys who stand up and preach people into heaven and I don't preach people into hell. Um I I I think that's kind of tacky. That's just me. That's just out of the book of JJ. I want to see the people that I love in heaven. I want to see them in glory. But we also know that there is a certain there's a certain set of requirements that we must have. We have to be born again, we have to be born of water and of the spirit, the same way the Bible teaches. John 3 and 3, 3 and 5, Matthew 28, 19, Acts 2.38. And uh we've gone over the fact that those two scriptures don't contradict, and I'm not gonna get off into that right now. But but that's just the beginning. That's the beginning. And um and I I I pray that anybody listening to this podcast go and study those scriptures um today. That's that's gonna be and and and this is where um the Psalm 118 becomes so um so pertinent because when you've done that, even no matter how much bad things or bad news you get, you still know that you there's a God up there who sometimes, I mean, he's gonna answer your prayers, and sometimes, sometimes, sometimes the answer is no. And just because that answer is no, it doesn't mean that he doesn't love you. It may just mean no, I think your suffering is done. So, um I think I'm gonna just end it there. Tony, my wife and I, we love you. Um, sincere loves you. Your family loved you. We we will miss you. And um we pray, I pray that we all see each other again in glory. And any of you walk us listening to this podcast, I hope we all get a table together uh in in glory in heaven. I I ask this in Jesus' name. I love each and every one of you. Uh, next week we will resume our regularly scheduled uh episodes. Um but this is gonna be it for today. I love each and every one of you. I really, really, really do.

unknown 17:43

Alright.

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Um, and I I guess I have to say it. Um, if you have any questions or comments, and to um to walk with me bible study at gmail, walk with me bible study at gmail. Uh comment, like, share. Thank you for doing all of that because of you. This podcast has grown. Um, listens were up like 300% a couple weeks ago, and I was really thank God thanking God for each and every one of you. I love each and every one of you. I really do. I will see y'all next week. God bless.