24 Days Til Christmas

24 Days Til Christmas

       

            She sat at her desk and glanced up to the calendar on the wall.  Oh, no!  She couldn’t believe it was December already, let alone only 24 days til Christmas.  She picked up her pencil began making a list of all the things she had to do before December 25^th.  The list went something like this: shopping, make a menu for dinner, send invitations for the Christmas  Eve get together, wrap gifts, do Christmas cards, make cookies and candy, buy a ham for dinner, go caroling to nursing homes, help with all the functions at church, and that was only part of the list.

            She knew she couldn’t possibly get everything done in 24 days.  Being an organized person, however, would help, so she rewrote her list in a manner so that she could accomplish two or more tasks at the same time.  She began day one by making a Christmas card list; on to the store to buy cards; to the post office for stamps and then home to address the cards. 

            With Christmas music playing on the radio, she drove through town.  Her cell phone jarred her back to reality.  “Don’t forget the Women’s Ministry tonight at 6:30 at the church and don’t forget to bring 3 dozen cookies. Bye.” She clicked off the cheerful voice on the other end of the phone. 

            “Well,” she thought, “There goes my evening of addressing cards.”   This was just day one.  What comes next?  Her organized lists didn’t leave much wiggle room.  She hurried home and stirred up a batch of cookies. 

            Day 2 left her feeling a bit frazzled; trying to address the cards while purchasing certain gifts on the internet. She wondered how she could have addressed her mother-in-law’s to ebay.com?  Even that wasn’t as bad as ordering a size 5X sweater for her best friend, who wore a size 10.  Then the unbelievable happened; she stamped and mailed a sympathy card instead of a Christmas card to a couple who just got back together after a split up. How did that card get in with Christmas cards?

            Day 3 was worse; the phone calls began.  The couple that got the sympathy card was angry beyond words and said with her sick humor that they would never speak to her again.  Her mother-in-law’s card was returned with “address not known”.   Also, she was trying to decorate the fake tree standing in the corner of the living room.  One of the main branches was missing; where could it have disappeared to?

            She guessed she would have to somehow fill in the space, but with what?  She could take a wire hanger and wrap green tissue around it; attach it to the tree and hang ornaments on it.  It was a longer task than she thought it would be; cutting and tying the tissue strips on the hanger.  At last finished, she hung it on the tree. Oh no!  She had no idea there were so many different color greens; mint green for a branch of a dark green tree made it stand out more than ever. 

            Time was running out and she had to have dinner in the oven and get ready for caroling at the nursing home within an hour. She started stirring up a casserole of leftovers; hoping the pieces of chicken in the refrigerator weren’t too old.  The recipe called for sour cream and she couldn’t find any.  Cool whip had the same consistency, so she stirred in half a container.  It also called for beans, but she was out of those too, so she chopped up a cup of dried prunes as a substitute.  Adding the rest of the ingredients, she stirred it all together and popped it in the oven.  If anyone asked she would call it her ‘Surprise Casserole’.

            Her family sat down for dinner as she waved goodbye; ran out the door and jumped in the car.  A loud ‘ding, ding, ding’ made her look at the gas gauge that was blinking to let her know she was on empty.  She was already running behind and everyone knows when it says ‘empty’ you can still drive a few miles.  She only had a few miles to go, so she was sure she would make it there and back.

            When she pulled off the ramp onto the highway, the engine started to sputter and she had to pull off on the shoulder of the road.  Oh, no!  She reached in her purse for her cell phone and after frantically searching through it; she realized she had forgot to bring it. What was happening to her; she was the person who didn’t even go to the bathroom without her phone.

            It was turning dusk when a car pulled up beside and a man tapped on her window.  She heard you never roll down your window if a stranger approaches you stalled car.  Was he a mass murderer on the look out for a lone woman, or maybe he was one of those who kidnapped people and sold them to be sex slaves. 

            He tapped the window again and yelled, “Can I help you?”  He looked more like one of those homeless men sleeping in the streets.  His worn jacket and a dark ski hat made up for a picture of ‘scary’.  She shook her head no and gave him a half smile, hoping he didn’t see the fear in eyes.  She waved and he waved back, got in his car and drove off.  She noticed his car was newer than hers; it was probably stolen.

            A few minutes later another car pulled up and a young man tapped on her window.  “Need some gas; I’ll go pick it up and put it in for you, but I don’t have any money.”

            Well, she could roll the window down and slip a ten dollar bill through it.  “Okay”, she nodded as she reached into her purse and realized she hadn’t put her wallet in this one; she had grabbed wrong purse by mistake.  She waved him away and he looked puzzled, but left.  Now what?  He could have escaped from a prison and was trying to get another car.

            One thing for sure, she was not getting out of this car unless she was taken out by force.  Just then, red lights flashing and sirens blaring, two police cars pulled up; one in front and one in back.  They jumped out with guns drawn.  One of the officers ordered her out of the car, with her hands in the air.  She was so terrified that when she pushed the ‘unlock’ button, she passed out in the seat.  As the swirling darkness washed over her, she heard the sound of a gunshot and it was the last thing she remembered.

            As she started coming to, she could hear them still shooting; no, someone was hammering.  “Stop, stop!” she cried out. She opened her eyes to see her husband came rushing in.

“What’s wrong,” he asked?  “I’m just putting up the spruce tree; you said you wanted a live one this year.”

            I jumped out of bed in a leap of joy.  It wasn’t real; I just had a nightmare. “Lord, thank you for waking me up to the truth, Christmas should be a time of joy and peace; not a nightmare of chaos and stress.” After all, she still had 24 days to enjoy preparing for Christmas.

 

Let’s celebrate the Reason for the Season!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

The Patchwork Quilt

The Patchwork Quilt

            Making quilts has become a very popular hobby today.  In fact our church has a quilt making class where anyone can learn how to make quilts.  It’s a little different now than it was when I was a child.  No one used a sewing machine and every stitch was done by hand.  I recall a particular incident when I was about 5 or 6 years old. 

            My mother had sewn many small pieces of material together until it became the topside of a quilt.  Other ladies of the community came to our house and using 4 long boards, which rested on the backs of chairs, they tacked on the quilt top.  To me it seemed like a tent, so while the ladies worked on the quilt, I took my dolls and played on the floor underneath it.  I looked up on the bottom of the quilt top and could see all these hundreds of ugly strings hanging down.  It was really ugly and I didn’t see how that could be a quilt.

            However, by the end of the day, they took it off the boards and turned it over.  To my surprise, the quilt was beautiful with different pieces of material making pretty patterns.  I looked it all over and saw piece of material that was just like some of my dresses Mother made for me. 

            It’s been many years since I played under a quilt being put together, but I can clearly see how it is so much like a person’s life.  Many times our life seems to be ugly and ragged; without rhyme or reason and we wonder where God is in all of this.  Let me tell you: He is right there looking from above at the finished product.

            Just like a quilt has a pattern, God has a pattern for your life.  “For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 (TLB)  Even when things happen in your life that you don’t understand, God understands and is trying to ‘piece it together’ according to His plan.

            Even in the worst of situations God not only sees what is happening to us now, but He also can see the future for His children, if you are a believer.  Romans 8:28 “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”  He sees the ‘finished product’ of our life.

            Why does God care so much about how I live?  He tells us in Psalm 139:13, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.  If you are a woman and have had babies, you know while that baby was growing inside of you that you already loved it.  It’s the same with God who formed us in our mother’s womb.  In the same scripture in verses 15-16, “You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”  You can easily see how God has His hand on your life from the time you were conceived and every day of your life.  God has kept track of you each and every day until your time comes and His plan for you is complete.

Is it true that God knows how long our life is going to be?  King David knew that God held his life in his hands and knew we sometimes forget how quickly the years go by.  We seem to think we will remain on this earth forever.  “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is.” (Psalm 39:4)  God gives us so many days to live before He calls us to be with him.  Remember in Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  A time to be born, and a time to die.”     

           God is our heavenly ‘quilter’ and keeps putting our life into his hands. We can plan to do all sorts of things, but God is still in charge if we allow him.  Just when we think we have it all planned out and our plans fall apart; we become disheartened.  Listen to this: “A man's heart plans his way; but the LORD directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)  When things don’t seem to go as we planned, tell the Lord, “Okay God, you take over.”  You will notice how much smoother the task when God has him way in your life.  One day you will understand and God will show you the finished product and you will praise God for how he put it all together.  Just like a beautiful quilt. Amen

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are You An Honest Person?

Are You An Honest Person?

           I was talking to some people the other day and we got on the subject of being an honest person.  My mother taught me as a very young child that stealing was wrong and to never, never take something that didn’t belong to you.  Not only did she teach me, but she was a great example to me. 

                
           If someone gave my mother too much change back, she never kept it but she always gave it back, even if it was a penny.  I never saw her try to take more than she paid for not was she dishonest in any dealings.  So I grew up to be a very honest person and taught my children the same. 

          As the years went by I was confronted by many opportunities to be dishonest, but to tell you the truth, I would have lost my job rather than cheat or cover up things for others.  In fact, one time I quit a long-time job because my boss wanted me to watch certain people and report to her about things they did or said.  I went to the CEO and was told, “You can’t fight the system.”  I did the only honest thing I could – I quit.

A few years later I was working at a new position and was manager of my department.  I was extremely busy, but I also was receiving a lot of personal phone calls.  One day someone from another department said to me, “You sure are making a lot of personal phone calls.”  At first I was a little upset because it really wasn’t any of that person’s business what I was doing.  Then I got to thinking about it and realized I was being dishonest; I was stealing time from the company and getting paid for it.  I changed my way of doing that.

          2 Corinthians 1:12 says, “We are so glad that we can say with utter honesty that in all our dealings we have been pure and sincere, quietly depending upon the Lord for his help and not on our own skills.”   Notice it says, ‘in all our dealing’.  This means is whatever we do from cheating, stealing, or being deceitful.  It means to not even taking a pencil that doesn’t belong to you.  Remember in whatever you do – you are being watched.

         Way back in Old Testament times, the people were warned to “Be fearless in your stand for truth and honesty.”  2 Chronicles 19:11 Trust is a very important thing in life.  It’s important to have people trust you because they know you are honest.  Others who trust you bring promotion, success and prosperity.  I think of Abraham Lincoln, the 16^th. President, 1860, was called, ‘Honest Abe’ because he was honest in all he did; he never cheated and never lied.  To this day the name ‘Honest Abe’ is who he is known by. 

          Who would want to be remembered as liar, thief and cheater?  I would rather be remembered as someone who never lied to anyone; who never cheated anyone and who never took anything that didn’t belong to them. 

         Why do we remember Abraham in the Old Testament, because he was a ‘Friend of God’?   Why did God call him that?  “He was the only truly righteous man living on the earth at that time. He tried always to conduct his affairs according to God’s will.” Genesis 6:9 (TLB) Abraham was an honest man who obeyed God’s commands.  Dishonesty will get you nowhere, but honesty will take you everywhere.

            Be the example they can follow.  Your children watch you and they will do what they see you doing.

TRUST, DELIGHT, COMMIT AND REST

Trust, Delight, Commit and Rest

 

 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
 Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.
 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.                 Psalm 37:3-7 (NKJV)

            We all have our good days and bad days; days when were ready to give in and give up.  Depression can eat you up if you have no one to turn to for help.  You may feel like you’re no good for anyone and they would be better off without you.  You might even have thought about ending it all.

            STOP!  I really do know what you’re going through; I’ve been there.  Many years ago I was that person.  I felt like I had no hope whatsoever.  I hated myself and blamed everything and everybody.  When I was at my lowest point in my life; God came into it.  I wasn’t even looking for him; I didn’t call on his name or even pray for help, but He was there. 

            I don’t have space to write my whole testimony, but I will add a line from a very funny movie, “Pee Wee Herman’s Great Adventure”.  A girl named Dottie was telling him the sad story of her life and he said to her, “I know; I’ve lived it, Dottie.”  It was a very funny line in the show, but in real life, I can say, “I know, I’ve lived it, friend.”

            It’s hard to give encouragement to someone who is going through some ‘stuff’, if you haven’t been through it.  So – let me encourage you.  The grass really is greener on the other side.  There is hope and there is happiness waiting for you.  God is the only reason that I am alive today; not only alive, but happy and filled with joy.  I am walking in the favor of God because of 4 things I will share with you.  These 4 things come from Psalm 37:3-7

            The first thing that happened after I asked Jesus into my heart was reading the Bible and discovering I could TRUST God.  I was at a point in my life that I didn’t trust anyone because I knew they would let me down.  However, God was different.  I began to look back over my life and could see how I came through things I couldn’t have without divine help.  God literally saved me from myself a number of times.  I came to realize that a God who would sacrifice the life of his son for me was a God I could trust; a God who was faithful.  I also knew he had never let me go without; I didn’t always have my wants met, but my needs had always been supplied my whole life.  Praise God!

            The second thing I learned was to ‘DELIGHT in the Lord’; to find joy in my life because of who he was.  I found delight in the fact that God loved me beyond what I could even imagine.  He wanted the very best for me; he wanted me to be happy and to enjoy prosperity and good health.  I read in 3 John 2, “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”   This doesn’t mean that I would never get sick or not always have money, because we live in this world and things happen to both good and bad people.  But this is what God wants for me.

            It also says in that verse that God “will give us the desires of our heart”.  This is probably one of the most misinterpreted scriptures in the Bible.  We need to take in the entire verse because it says “IF” If we give our whole life to God, our desires will be godly things.  If our desires are to be rich or to have our own airplane or to take a cruise or have a big house, we are asking for selfish desires to be fulfilled.  If the desire of our heart is to become a missionary, or to see people set free, or to serve God more, He will give you those things.  It doesn’t mean to delight in our selves, but in Him.  He never fails.

            The third thing I learned was to COMMIT my life to Him.  When I was a new Christian, someone once asked me, “Can’t you talk about anything but God?”  I said, “Sure; let’s talk about Jesus”.  Why wouldn’t I want to talk about him all the time?  “He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.  He has put a new song in my mouth-- Praise to our God.”   Psalm 40:2-3  

            These changes in my life didn’t all happen suddenly, but gradually as I gave more and more of myself to Him.  I was not financially secure and when I read in the Bible God wanted me to prosper, I realized I needed to let him prosper me and so I began tithing 10% of what money came into our household.  I could hardly believe it when even though our wages didn’t increase, we never ran out of money.  When appliances died, we were able to replace them.  They were not always new, but always supplied our need.  God has blessed us so abundantly that I can’t even count the times. 

            I’m still committed, even after all these years.  I can’t imagine not being committed to my church and to people.  I can’t play the piano for three services a week, like I once did; I don’t teach a Sunday School class like I used to and don’t go to all the retreats and conferences, but I do what I can.  This is what causes me to write these teachings on a blog every week, spending many hours of study.  God called me teach his Word and I will do that somehow because I’m committed.  Being committed to God is not just repeatedly do things like going to church every Sunday, or tithing your ten percent, its because its part of being faithful to God.  After all, He is faithful to me.

            The fourth thing is REST in Him.  What this means is to be ‘patient’.  We live in an ‘instant’ world and we have grown to expect things to happen immediately.  God is not one to be controlled by what people say and do.  He wants us to give our problems and trials to Him and then leave them there, resting in the fact that He will take care of these things in His own time and way. 

            Two or three years ago I had cancer and then broke my shoulder in four places.  I know my children thought I would never get out of my chair again, but I knew God was healing me and I was resting in Him.  He didn’t let me down, but gradually healed me and put me back on my feet.  Last month I went up in a balloon and rode in a helicopter.  I’m pretty proud of doing those things, but I give my heavenly Father the glory for giving me the ability to do it.  I never thought I had the patience, but it took a time of not being able to do anything to learn to ‘rest’ in Him.

            Trust in God, Delight in His ways, Commit your life to Him and Rest in His promises and your life will only get better and better.  The joy of the Lord is my strength and it can be yours if you let it.

 

THE LOVE OF GOD

THE LOVE OF GOD

 “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.”  Ephesians 3:18 (NLT)

 Trying to explain the love of God is like looking through a giant telescope and seeing the vastness of the universe; it looks to be endless.  So is God’s love; there are no adequate words to describe it.  I hear people all the time saying, “I love God”.  It seems to be a rather puny remark when compared to how God loves us.  I only know this, ^“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16 (NLT)

There are those in this world who have never felt loved; then they haven’t experienced the benefits of being a Believer in Jesus.  There are those who are so lonely they end up in deep depression; then they haven’t understood the message of Jesus Christ, because he said, “He would never leave us or forsake us.  Here’s what he wants to do for you, “He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.” Psalm 40:2

Many of us do not understand that God’s love is constantly surrounding us; constantly watching over us.  I could list more than a hundred scriptures telling of God’s love and care for us.  3 John 1:2 is for those who worry over financial problems: “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

Whatever your need is; when you are afraid to move forward, read Isaiah 52:12; “For the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.”  I love this; whatever I’m facing, God has gone before me to look over the situation and I don’t have to be looking backwards; fearing what’s coming up behind me.  God is already watching my back; nothing will get by Him.

I once heard a pastor on the radio talking about the word, ‘El Shaddai’ and the meaning of it.  It means, “God is the Sufficient One; God is Enough!”  Listen, He loves you so much that he wants to provide all your needs.  Look in Luke 12:27-31, "Look at the lilies! They don’t toil and spin, and yet Solomon in all his glory was not robed as well as they are. And if God provides clothing for the flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, don’t you suppose that he will provide clothing for you, you doubters?  And don’t worry about food—what to eat and drink; don’t worry at all that God will provide it for you. All mankind scratches for its daily bread, but your heavenly Father knows your needs. He will always give you all you need from day to day if you will make the Kingdom of God your primary concern."

You don’t always ‘feel’ God’s love; He might bring a great happening in your life, or it may be just a small thing.  My mother depended on God for everything and she prayed about everything.  One time she told me she had difficulty combing her hair after she had a stroke.  She prayed and God always helped her with it.  There were times she needed things from the store and she prayed; sure enough someone would call and ask if she needed anything from the store.  This might seem like coincidences, but I can tell you that God hears every prayer and loves you so much he wants to take care of you in even in small things.

There is a song called, “His Love” and here are a couple of verses:

 

His love is higher than the highest of mountains
His love is deeper than the deepest of seas
His love, it stretches to the farthest horizon
And His love, it reaches to me

His love is stronger than the angels and demons
His love, it keeps me in my life’s darkest hour
His love secures me on the pathway to heaven
And His love is my strength and power.

 

Our pastor preached a message one morning from John 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”  Don’t miss this; God loves us so much that we didn’t even have to look for him because he already chose us.  God knew us before we were even born and loved us then.  He loved us when we didn’t even serve him and he loved us when we sinned.  He readily forgives us when we repent.  Why?  He expects us to go out and bear fruit by leading others to road of salvation.  We might say that we decided to follow Jesus, and we did have to make a choice, but in truth, he was already calling us to him. 

I don’t know of any other than God the Father who sent his Son, Jesus, to this sinful earth to die for so many undeserving people, unless His love was beyond what we could understand.  To not accept His amazing love would be like throwing our very life in his face. 

Never forget that you are chosen and appointed and filled with God’s power.  The Holy Spirit lives within you because God sent him to be our Comforter.  What love God has for us!

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" . John 3:16 (NKJV)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Happens When We Die? Part 2 - Con't.

What Happens When We Die?

Part II - Con’t.

 

When Believers die, where does their spirit go?  To answer this question, we need to look at several scriptures.  When Jesus was still alive on this earth, he told the story of a beggar who died and the angels took him to ‘Abraham’s Bosom’; the rich man died and was in Hades (Hell) Luke 16:22-23

When Jesus died, he first went down into the lower parts of the earth which is called “The Bosom of Abraham.”  Prior to Jesus resurrection, when believers died, their spirit went to that place.  He preached to them and then they were set free.  Many came with him out of ‘Abrahams Bosom’ as it tells us in Matthew 27:51-53, “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.

How could that be?  There are two scriptures that speak of a place deep in the earth.  1) Ephesians 4:9 Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?  2)

I Peter 3:19-20 “Through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built.”  And also in chapter 4:6, “For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.”  Both scriptures are in [NIV].

While Jesus hung on the Cross one of the criminals believed in Jesus and asked him to remember him.  And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

Luke 23:43

After Jesus died and rose again he told Mary, “Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.” John 20:17

From this time of his death, Jesus held the keys of Death and Hell in his hands and Paradise became the place for the ‘dead in Christ’.  Where is Paradise? Paradise is in the “Third Heaven.”  2 Cor. 12: 2-5 “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago; whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows; such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man; whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows; how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities.”

This is why we know Paradise is in the third heaven.  Most Bible scholars believe Paul was speaking about himself in this scripture.  Let’s look at the layers of heaven. 

            a.         The sky above us is considered the first heaven

            b.         The second heaven is believed to be out in space where the stars are.

c.         The third heaven is above that and where Paradise is.  However

 it is not where the Throne of God is or within the pearly gates.

 

It is believed that Hell, Hades, Sheol; which ever you call it, is in the lower parts of the world.  Even the Old Testament speaks of this place:  Psalm 63:9 “But those that seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.” It has long been considered there were two compartments under the earth; a place for the unrighteous dead and a place for the righteous that died before Jesus came to set them free.  After he did that they came into Paradise.

To further explain this place, turn to Rev. 9:1 “And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.”

Vs. 11: And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.  Sometimes the pit is called the ‘Abyss’ meaning a bottomless gulf.

             When Jesus returns to this earth he will bring all the souls in Paradise with him.  I Thess. 4:14 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” We know that flesh and blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God.  I Cor. 15:50 “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”. 

Now Paul called this a mystery in I Cor. 15:51 “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

We must remember one thing; our new body will not have any blood in it.  All the blood came out of Jesus at his death, so when he was resurrected, his body was without blood.  We know we shall be like Jesus when we return.  Jesus had five senses working and so will we.

            1.         Sight

            2.         Feeling

            3.         Taste

            4.         Ability to walk through solids

            5.         Move at the speed of thought.

            There are some things that happen before a person actually is dead. When a baby is born, the umbilical cord that is attached to the stomach of the baby is also attached to the mother.  Only when that cord is cut that separates the baby from its mother, can the infant begin to breathe on its own.  I’ve read many testimonies of people who thought they died and how they are hovering over their body and looking down at it.  Then they feel themselves floating upwards, but later on they come back into their body.  This is a strange thing to take place, but I believe there is an explanation.  Let’s go to Ecclesiastes 12:6   “Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.  Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.”

I believe that just like the umbilical cord, until the silver cord is severed, there can be no life in the spiritual world.  This scripture gives different explanation for the same thing, but there must be a severance from this world to remain in another.

Eternity is without time and the marvelous things God has planned for us have no explanation. "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."  I Corinthians 2:9

 

I know this: Either I will go up in the Rapture and be changed in the 'twinkling of an eye', or my heart will stop beating and two angels will lift me out of this body and carry me to Paradise.  I will be given a new and glorious body and will be with Jesus forever.

 

"For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”   1 Corinthians 15:53-55 (NLT)

 

 

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I DIE?

What Happens When We Die?

Part I 

 

Over the years of teaching, many have asked me what happens when we die.  Of course not having experienced this event, it was difficult to answer.  I love to study the Word of God, so I’ve spent a lot of time searching for answers.  I read many books by different preachers and not all agreed with one another. 

            I have noticed most pastors, when giving a funeral service; say the same thing, “Your loved one is now in heaven”.  Of course that is not always true, even if it makes those remaining feel good about it. I want to share some of the miraculous things the Bible tells us, along with some insights from Perry Stone and myself.
            There are four (4) things we know for sure:

1.               All people must die (except for Elijah and Enoch and those taken in the Rapture).

Heb. 9:27 “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,”

                       Notice we are ‘appointed’; we have an appointment with death and it’s one we can’t    
                       call up and cancel.  We don’t know our appointed time, but we all have one.  It was
                       this way from the beginning.  Turn to Genesis 3:19 “In the sweat of your face you shall
                       eat bread until you return to the ground. For out of it you were taken; for dust you are,
                       and to dust you shall return.” 

2.         Every one who ever lived will be resurrected some day.  Romans 6:5 “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.”

            When Jesus rose from the dead He defeated the enemy, Satan.  This scripture tells us those who are born again will also rise from the dead.  I Thess. 4:16-17 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

 

                       Dead or alive, we will be resurrected, “Acts 24:15 “I have hope in God, which they
                       themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
                       and the unjust.”  There it is; all that died, the good and the bad, will be resurrected on
                       that great day.

3.         Where will they go when they are resurrected?  Let’s take a look at Matt. 25:46 “And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."  This tells us that some will enter eternal life with God and others damnation.  I know there are those who believe everyone will go to heaven when they die, but the Bible tells us differently.

             Matt. 25:32  "All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.”  There is not much more to be said about this.

4.         Every person will be judged.  John 5:26-29 “For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”

 

Let’s look at what the bible tells us about judgment after death.  There are two judgment events: 

1) The judgment seat of Christ which is for the Believer and 2) The Great White Throne Judgment which is for the unbeliever.

            1)  Romans 14:10 “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”

 
            2)  Revelation 20:11 “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.” Who are ‘them’ this speaks of?  These are the ones who never accepted Jesus as their Savior.
 

Resurrection is both a physical and a spiritual thing.  Gen. 2:7 “And the LORD God formed man

of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living being.”  Here we see a physical side to it.  We can see that dust is a physical thing and what
is created from it returns to it.

Daniel 12:2 explains it even further.  “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.”   

I Cor. 15:53 “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”   What does this mean?  Is it physical or spiritual?  It seems quite clear that it is both.  We will change physically from dust to an immortal body and spiritually from our sinful thought life to pure spirituality.

            Our body is the ‘Temple of the Holy Spirit’ and that makes it invaluable, but in the physical it only worth about $14.00.  It has enough sulfur to make a box of matches, enough salt to fill a salt shaker and enough iron to make a 3” nail among other things.  It’s almost ridiculous that you put $50 shoes on ten cent feet; a $40 hairdo on a fifty cent head and $400 teeth in a five cent mouth.
 

Think of this; a $14 dollar man gets up and puts on $20 dollar slippers; takes a shower and puts on a $200 suit; a $25 dollar tie and $85 dollar dress shoes.  He leaves a $400,000 dollar house and drives a $40,000 car.  He gets to work and sets behind a $1,500 desk and turns on a $2,000 computer. 

 
He works 8 hours a day to make some money and eventually goes home to his $14 wife and his two $7.50 dollar kids.  He sets down and eats a $10 meal, picks up a $1.00 newspaper and sits in a $450 recliner.

Suddenly he has a heart attack and dies.  Then they buy a new $300 suit to put on him and lay him in a $2,000 coffin and bury him in a $3,000 cemetery plot.  Then they cover him up with the same thing he’s made out of – DIRT!  [Perry Stone]

If he, or she, is serving God, two angels will descend and lift the spirit out of his $14 dollar body and take him to Paradise.  He has the promise to someday be resurrected.  I Cor. 15: 21-22  “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.”)