Funeral Eulogy Betty Beasley

Funeral Eulogy Betty Beasley Wednesday 9-2-2020

Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 Romans 8:28-39

Let me ask you two questions. “How Do You Feel About Your Upcoming Death?” Since you know it’s coming, are you fully prepared for its arrival?”

Death first appeared in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. It was a frightening concept to them and has been for most of humankind ever since. But even before Jesus Christ conquered death by rising from the dead, God saw death in a different light.

From God’s perspective, death could be rendered completely powerless depending on who was doing the dying. The word of God says in Psalms 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."

This means that on August 22nd , 2020 Betty Beasley, brought joy in a special way to the heart of God because her death was precious to God. It was also precious to Betty because for the first time in her life, sickle anemia was no longer an issue to deal with.

What was it about Betty that moved the heart of God on Saturday the 22nd? What was it about her, that moved our hearts to tears, when we discovered that she was now waiting for our arrival in heaven? What was it about her that causes us to celebrate this evening?

She was more than a daughter, more than a wife, more than a mother, more than a sister, more than a relative, more than a good friend, and more than a strong Black woman. Brothers and sisters, I submit to you this day, that Betty Thornton Beasley was a servant and a child of the Most High God.

The actual date of Betty’s death is probably not written down in a record book that we can easily get our hands on, you see the date on the obituary refers to the date her body ceased to function.

The real Betty Beasley, the part that lives forever, died a while ago, when she heard of the call of Jesus Christ upon her life to come follow him. That meant some changes would have to be made in her lifestyle and some things would have to change.

Jesus said, , "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a person if he or she gains the whole world, yet forfeits his or her soul?

Or what can a person give in exchange for his or her soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he or she has done.

Betty picked up her cross to follow Jesus Christ, thereby making her death a couple of Saturdays ago just a means of passing from one form of service to God to another. How does a person go about denying himself or herself to follow Jesus?

It begins with the realization that there is more to life than what we can see around us. It continues with the understanding that everyday, all of us are making choices for our lives that affect us and others.

Not only are choices being made, the word of God tells us that a record is being kept of every decision that we make, and that one day we will give an account to God for those decisions.

There use to be a beer commercial ad that said, "you only live once, give it all the gusto you can in life." That slogan actually comes from the Old Testament in the bible. Only the beer commercial stopped halfway with the verse.

The verse goes on to say, give it all you got, but realize that God is going to hold you accountable for the way you live it.

If you were to die today, would you be ready to give God an account for the decisions you have made, and would you know with a certainty that you would spend eternity in heaven with God?

If the answer is not yes, then perhaps your life is being lived in vain.

The good news about Betty, is that her living has not been in vain. God gives each of us an assignment to work and to complete in this world. We cannot let the outward circumstances of our lives hinder us in fulfilling the task that is before us.

Betty had more than her share of struggles and difficulties in life. She was born with sickle cell anemia. It is an illness in which there are not enough healthy red cells to carry oxygen throughout the body.