Category: Death

Celebrations and tears


We all have them at one time or another. We mourn the loss of someone who we love or we celebrate an anniversary or other accomplishment in our lives. Sometimes the tears come during the celebrations, but it is all part of life. How do you live with it or live without the people in your life which have gone on before you? Do you rely on your own strength and that alone or do you lean on friends and family? Many people do exactly that, they lean on others who have gone through the same troubles and heartaches. Is that really how we are supposed to get through our tough times?

The celebrations are easy because they usually involve someone’s accomplishment in some way or another. Maybe you have been married longer than some in your family or friends. Maybe you just graduated from college or even got married recently. Maybe you just had a baby, boy or girl doesn’t matter, it is still a celebratory moment in your life that you won’t forget…EVER!

Time can dim the memories and the pain to an extent, but it never goes away entirely. The loss of a loved one, whether it was your child or your mother or father or one of your grandparents, is a loss to you emotionally, physically and even spiritually. Why spiritually? Because between Christians there is a bond of fellowship, it isn’t one that you can feel emotionally but it is there. When you are absent from this fellowship, your spirit feels it and whether you feel it emotionally or not, God knows how it is affecting you.

The other effects from the loss are more immediate and real because of the pain that is felt and caused by such a loss. Why am I going over this? Because many of you, even though I don’t personally know you, have a loss in your life of some kind. Some are more painful than others, some are like my mother who suffered with pain for years before she died but that did not lessen the pain that I felt at her passing. Even though after so many so-called “mini strokes”, she was still with me for a time she couldn’t enjoy life anymore so her quality of life was far diminished from what it had been. For years I blamed myself because I had asked God to take her and get her out of her pain and suffering, but it wasn’t because of my actions or my prayer that God granted it. It was because He saw that it was time and within a day of my prayer, she was in His arms.

Yes, my pain began at that point and continued for many years especially at Christmas because she died on Christmas day. My point?

First…don’t ever pray that kind of prayer unless you are ready spiritually for the consequences of it.

Second…there will be consequences, good or bad, because of a death in your family whether you prayed that prayer or not.

God loves each of us, no matter what we have done or will do in the future, He just doesn’t like the sinful lives that we lead. Especially when we don’t even recognize that we are sinners or that what we are doing is sinful. Some Christians live this way, thinking that their life is fine with Christ and with God because they claim to be Christians and they go to church once in a while. Many of them think that because they read the Bible a few times a year, not all the way through, that they have their way to Heaven in the bag and they don’t need to worry about it.

Analogy: You go to a college and audit some courses, sitting in class and listening and reading the material maybe even taking notes. You might even audit enough courses to actually have enough credits under your belt to get a degree…will you get one? No, because an audited course doesn’t give you credit for a degree, you are just present listening for your own enjoyment so to speak. What good did that do?

The same amount of good that going to church, reading the Bible, praying and singing will do for you…none!!!

You can go through the motions of this and you might even be “led” to get baptized one day because you think that it is the right thing to do but has your heart changed? Did you give your life to Jesus and allow Him to change you from the inside? If you didn’t do that and your life outside of church doesn’t change so that others can tell that something happened, then it was your decision, your feeling and not the call of the Spirit that you answered. When you die, you will be shown that you did all of these things but if you never actually gave your heart to Jesus, the knowledge that you heard but did not hear spiritually will only convict you.

Think about it.

Drama and life


It seems that today with the Internet and all of the social media outlets that we have, there is more drama than ever about things which are happening all of the time. I know, years ago this was all gossip on the phones. The problem with today’s version is that this stuff never really goes away! Births and deaths, accidents and graduations, heart attacks and strokes, family reunions and funerals, they will ALL be there until the Internet and Facebook are gone! Even then, some trace of this will be available to future generations to read and wonder about.

Dramatic situations and life seem to go hand in hand today, but they really shouldn’t. Yes, life goes on no matter what is happening around us and we can make it dramatic or dramatizing if we want it that way. But…why? I know that tragedy strikes and yes, that can be dramatic and traumatic at the same time but God will see you through it! If you haven’t given your life to Him, then you really should. If you need to know why you should do so, then you haven’t gotten there yet.

God doesn’t want us to go through life alone without Him, yet we merrily do so thinking that we can do it all on our own with no help at all. Many times, we are right…as long as everything is going smoothly. Get one of those phone calls from the doctor or a pink slip from your job, and things could change in a hurry! If you have a teen in the house and you get a call from the hospital or the police or sheriff and your life may change forever.

God is there with you through these times, and all that you need to do is call on Him. His Strength is available to you through the Holy Spirit and His Grace is always available, just ask Him for it! There is no shame or disgrace in admitting that you need Him because we all do!

Granted, He doesn’t shower us with gold or silver when we ask for it but that is because He knows what is best for us at any given time. His Grace and mercy and His Peace is always available through His Word, the Bible. We don’t have to pay much for it, we don’t need psychologists or self-help books to find the wisdom for life’s problems because it is all found within the pages of the Bible.

Seek Him first for your needs, your peace, your health, your life and He will provide all of those and more because He loves you! Any who have lost children or spouses to an illness or death, seek Him out and pray for His peace and comfort and He will gladly provide it. Though it won’t rid you of your grief and the pain that you feel, it will make it more bearable because He loves you!

Think about it.

Life, when did it begin for you?


In the minds of hospitals and some doctors, life seems to begin when the child is able to live outside of the womb as evidenced by this quote “24 weeks marks the stage of viability—and the measure of life—for the unborn.” Excuse ME!

Two sets of DNA combine to create a new organism, a baby, at conception. True, it doesn’t look like a human baby yet, but in a few weeks it will. The fetus’ heart begins to beat 18 days from conception, and by 21 days the heart is pumping blood through a closed circulatory system. I would call that a living organism, a tiny human being at that point. God may look at it from the molecular standpoint of the DNA that was used in its creation, so to Him this life began before the heart started beating.

None of us remember being inside the womb, at least not consciously, and that may be a good thing. The point that I am making is that life, all life, begins in the womb before it will ever be able to live outside of the womb. Yes, I am speaking of mammalian life of course, but the point is that our world has grown so cold and callous to life itself until we don’t pay much attention to it when it is snuffed out, whether by a bullet or by a “doctor” that aborts that life.

Since there have been millions of abortions performed since it became legal, I suppose our society doesn’t care much about life. If that many had been killed by gas chambers or by bullets, the entire world would’ve taken notice a long time ago.

God doesn’t condone killing on this scale, especially of children, unborn or not. God is the Creator and the Author of Life, He sends children into the world for His purposes and He knows the outcome of their lives, if they are allowed to live. It is our responsibility as parents to consider this when children are about to come into our lives because they are precious in His sight.

God loves you and the future of humanity is our children, don’t throw them away like garbage because it is inconvenient! Someone wants to raise a child, black or white or brown doesn’t matter. There are many couples who would be overjoyed at the chance. Life begins with God, it is brought to fruition in the womb to be born into the world and to do the works which God has designated in its life. Consider this when you look at a child in the nursery window at a hospital.

Good Friday, what is good about it?


At some point, I am sure that some have asked that very question. What is good about this day? What makes it “Good Friday”? First, it is the belief that Jesus was crucified on this day, although how you fit three days between today and Sunday for His resurrection I am not sure. Why would the crucifixion of our Savior make a day good? Another point to answer that would be that without His crucifixion, there could be no forgiveness of sins extended and offered to the whole world because of His death.

Why was His death necessary? Because He had to be resurrected from death in order to conquer death and the grave. I mean, you can’t come out of a grave unless you have been put into it, right?

All of this came to be, not because of a rebellion that Jesus started, not because He was inciting people to revolt against Roman rule although many wanted Him to do just that, it didn’t even happen because priests were afraid of Him and His power although that did have a part in it. The whole plan had been put into place at the point where Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden. When God told them that “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15
Jesus’ life and death was foretold that far back in order to take care of the sin that had come into the world and many other prophecies between that time and Good Friday happened as well. The “woman” in that first prophecy was a symbol of many things. Not only was it a symbol of a mother, but she was a symbol or type of Israel and the Jewish people too. She also symbolized humanity, because God was not speaking of a serpent as a snake, He was speaking to Satan who had inhabited the snake to entice her and tempt her. Satan hates humanity simply because God loves us, that is where the enmity comes from.

Anything which he can do to destroy or hurt us, as humans, he will do. Whether it is by violence, war, diseases, famines, murder or any of a number of ways that he and his cohorts can bring to bear on us in order to hurt that which God loves, he will do it. Especially if he can keep us from accepting Jesus as our Savior, ultimately that is his number one goal!

Christ conquered death, hell and the grave as well as paid the price for all of man’s sins with His death and resurrection. God offers us the grace through Jesus to accept Him as our Savior to become joint heirs with Him in God’s Kingdom. It is a gift offered from God, all we have to do is ask for it and accept it in order to have it! What makes that so difficult? If someone offered to pay off all of your debts and give you ten million dollars also, would you refuse it just because you didn’t have to work for it? Of course not, so why do we refuse to accept the gift of eternal life with Him when we are given the option?

We don’t have to do anything to get it. Though, in return we do work for Him after we truly accept who we are in Christ. Nobody forces you to do anything, but it is not cool if you have accepted Jesus at one point in your life and then turn back to your sinful ways of living. Yes, you can do this but it is wrong. Why? Because you are witnessing to people with your life and telling them that you can get a free ride into Heaven. Just accept Jesus and then go on with your life as if you had not accepted Him. Wrong!!

If your heart is changed by Him, really changed, then you won’t go back to your old way of living as a sinner. you will be grateful for the pardon that you received from God and then tell as many people as you can about Him! Pray about this, read God’s Word and ask Him to show you what to do and then DO IT!!!

Easter, the meaning of it…


Today, we look at all holidays as their commercial impacts the world and the economy. But, what about the spiritual impact that the event itself really should have on people? Does anyone really look at Easter today and think about Jesus going to the cross for us, dying for us and then being raised up on the third day in order to complete His work here?

The holiday that we celebrate has nothing to do with Jesus at all. Bunnies and eggs had no meaning to the world at large in Jesus’ day except to pagans which celebrated the coming of spring and the rebirth of life after winter. That celebration has nothing at all to do with Jesus, with the exception of the rebirth which points to the resurrection. We need to look at our Lord as the Creator of all things and believe in His work of redemption on the cross by the shedding of His blood for our sins.

The reason for Easter being the holiday that it is, is because of a pagan spring equinox celebration and that it coincides with the time for passover in late March or early April. This was the time that Jesus was crucified so on that weekend is when we celebrate His death and resurrection. Since the Jewish tradition is to follow a lunar calendar of thirty-day months, dates are never the same from year to year.

So, what is the meaning of Easter, really? The celebration of Life through Jesus Christ and His atoning death and resurrection! That is the true reason for this holiday. If it had not been for this event, we wouldn’t have the hope of a resurrection to eternal life with Him! Our Savior is alive and He is coming back and if the events happening around our world today are any indication of “birth pains”, then it won’t be much longer until the whole world sees Him and knows that our faith and our Savior is real!

Living life for the hereafter


It seems that many people don’t really believe that there is a hereafter to live for, but according to the Bible there is. God’s Word is the Truth, therefore it can’t be wrong so that means that there is a life after this one. We are supposed to be living this life as a rehearsal of sorts for the next life. How we live this life will affect the next one in terms of where (location) and the comfort of our living through eternity as well. Living your life as if there is no tomorrow is a good thing, of sorts, because you aren’t expecting tomorrow to come. Some might say this is bad because then you just do whatever you wish and don’t worry about the consequences.

Yet, there are consequences in the next life. You will not be coming back here as something or someone else, but you will be yourself in the next life. Your eternal life will be a reflection, in a way, of how you have lived in this life. If you have given your heart to Jesus, no matter what age you may have done so, then you will be with Him in Paradise as He told the thief on the cross.

If you did not and you lived even the best life possible for a man or woman to do without Jesus, you are still convicted of a sinful life. A life without the forgiveness of sins by the blood of Jesus, which will still send you to hell. I know, this is one of those topics which you don’t hear mentioned much on radio ministries or television either, but it should be! Why? Because, our God is an Awesome God, but He is Holy and therefore can’t abide sin, no matter how small that sin may be. I have to tell you of the consequences of rejecting Jesus as your Savior because it is my responsibility to do so.

Just as not telling you about a poisonous snake in your path might get you killed, not telling you about the consequences of a life without Christ will also result in your eternal death, as the Bible calls it “the second death”. The problem is that you won’t die in the same sense as you do here, the death will be the separation from God and everything that is or could be good in eternity.

Your life is eternal, the life we live here and now is not. Consider that your life today, no matter how long it may be, actually would be no more than the size of the period at the end of this sentence when compared to eternity.

After that period (.), will be a very long, long, long time to live and serve God in His Kingdom on the New Earth. We have no idea what we will do or where we may go in all of that time, but it will be glorious, of that I am sure! Don’t you want to be part of that rather than being in fire and heat and darkness with the demons and Satan himself? I would and I will. Won’t you consider joining me? Seek out God in His Word, pray to Him about what you read and when you feel His call, answer it. You won’t be disappointed…ever!

Being a religious person doesn’t make any difference?


I saw this on the news today and I wonder just what people think will make a difference in our society? Religion itself has gotten a bad reputation in the past few years because of the problems which have cropped up in churches in many places. But you know you can be religious about many different things. You can be religious about the way you cook your food or how you put your clothes on a certain way or even about going to the golf course or fishing. People can make a religious experience out of most anything, but what about your faith?

Do you have faith in the sun coming up in the morning? You really don’t have to, because you know it will. What about the moon rising later in the day or after the sun goes down? Faith doesn’t really come into play there either because you know that these things will happen.

Religion and faith together can be an explosive combination, especially when you are so caught up in emotional issues and a religion which stirs these to a point where many people get uncontrollably caught up in what their teachers teach them. I am trying to be as politically correct as possible here so I really won’t offend anyone. The point is that our individual faith, regardless of which “religion” it happens to be in, is our own.

But, what will you do with that religion or lack of faith when you are confronted after your death by God Himself who is the final judge of our lives? What can you say to Him about your religion which will make a difference? If you never accepted Jesus and the sacrifice which He made to reconcile us to God, there isn’t much that you can say. God knows your heart and every word which has come from your mouth. If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, then He will be beside you as your life is judged, if not you will stand alone.

What then? Would you want to be standing in front of the Creator of the universe with nothing except your deeds and your personal “righteousness” which is as Isaiah 64: 6 says:

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;
and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”

Unless we have put on the righteousness of Christ, God sees us as we are and we cannot enter into Heaven in that way. What many people today do is to create their own version of “God”, one that is acceptable to them and doesn’t judge them for their personal faults but this is doing nothing except delaying the inevitable. We will all be judged by God, the One True God, whether we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus or not. If we did things in this life while belonging to Him, we will be rewarded if not then those things will be judged on their merit if any, except without Christ those merits will mean nothing.

How can our lives really mean anything or have any meaning at all without Christ? To each of us, our lives do mean something, but when you look at eternity once your life here ends, without Jesus eternity is not something that anyone would want to experience.

I know that there are many who think that life ends completely when we die, but we were created as eternal beings and part of us does live on. Without Jesus, it will not be an enjoyable eternity but with Him we will not be without anything good . You can choose whether to believe and accept Him as your Savior or not, many don’t wish to believe in Him at all. Satan knows that He is and believes that He is but he won’t worship Him and that is his downfall, don’t let it be yours.

What can we do for the world?


We as Christians, are supposed to be the light of the world but are we? The few of us who are dedicated to furthering Christ‘s teachings in the world have little influence in it. Our sphere of speaking engagements and preaching opportunities doesn’t extend very far from our homes. We are not international evangelists, so how can we possibly make a difference?

In all seriousness, we can’t do it without Christ’s help and influence behind the words which we do speak and the limited amount of influence that we do have. Without Him, we are nothing but with Him our words and our actions can make a difference. The difference will be in accordance with His will however so don’t expect things to go as you might hope. Our own feelings and wants are not a part of the equation when God‘s hand and His Spirit are involved. Our prayers to Him are for our benefit but ultimately, He is in control of everything.

I am not writing this to dampen the spirit of those who truly are followers of Christ and have their hope in Him but we have to face reality. The reality of our world is that even though Satan has control over most of the governments of earth, God is still in control of what he can do. We are not left alone, without help. God is behind the scenes, but in control and that is what we have to hold on to in order to be strong enough to stand up for what is right and for those who need to know Him. Even though there are many places where God is not known, His presence and the works of His hands are always visible to everyone. So no one has an excuse for being unable to know about God or who He is.

God’s handiwork is evident in the night sky or the cry of a newborn baby or a new sunrise. The beauty of His creation is that it is because He put it there. Nothing and no one is here by accident or evolution, regardless of the scientific community believing otherwise and trying to teach it as fact.

There will always be people who don’t want to hear about religion or God or creation and that is fine. They are free to believe whatever they wish to believe, but what if all of Christianity and the Bible is true? When you die you don’t get a second chance. There are no “do-overs” or re-incarnation for anyone to fix what was done wrong in their previous life. Your life here and now is the chance that you get, regardless of how long it is. If you choose to believe that there is no God and that you just go to sleep when you die and that is it, no one on earth can change your mind.

Although, when you open your eyes in eternity after death what will you say to the One that you stand before? It won’t be a blank screen staring back at you and it won’t be a computer asking for your ID card. It will be the Creator of the Universe who may ask you “What were you thinking?” or “Did you really think all of this was an accident”? It is possible that the Bible is true because the Creator does not lie! The words that He gave to His prophets and to His disciples are all true, whether you choose to believe it or not!

Yet, there are many who will wake up in eternity to find that it is real. Then what? At that point for them, the Truth is standing in front of them and cannot be denied except that it is too late. You can only accept Christ while you are alive, in the flesh. Once you have crossed over into eternity, what decisions were made here are cast in stone and cannot be changed. Make sure that you have checked all the possible explanations, especially the one about Christ and His saving grace for you before you die. Decide to make a difference in your life, because He will.

You almost persuaded me to be a Christian


 

“Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian”. Acts 26:28

King Agrippa’s comment to Paul is the only time in the New Testament that anyone said to a disciple that they were almost persuaded to become a Christian. These eight words give a sad testimony to King Agrippa and yet, many people say this today, nearly word for word. It is a frightening thought to me to see or hear someone say that because the punishment for those who have rejected God‘s offer of salvation is spiritual death, eternal separation from God!

God loves all of us and yet we, in our own ignorance, tell lies, we cheat, we commit all kinds of sinful acts daily which cut us off from communication with Him even now. He can’t and won’t hear us when we have become defiled by the world and the things in it that draw us away from Him. In many people’s eyes, the things which come between us and God on a daily basis doesn’t matter in the here and now. But, just for a moment, think about this: we are going to be in eternity whether we are in heaven or hell!

True, what you say or do on a daily basis may not hurt anyone right now but if you are the one saying something hurtful or out of character for a true Christian, who is it hurting? You in the long run, because you are going to pay for it by losing something which you would have gained in eternity! It also may hurt someone who hears what you say or sees what you did. Your witness as a Christian is visible to those around you all the time, especially your family but also your students, your friends and co-workers. Every word and deed, small or large will have an impact on your life now and in eternity and it will have an impact on someone else’s life too!

Being “almost” a Christian is like not being one at all! Any little misstep that you make in front of someone, regardless of who it may be, can be eternally damaging. That is why we have to crucify our “self”, the person who wants to say what they always said or do the things that they have always done; it has to be done daily because if you don’t stop that “old you” from showing up, it will happen again and again until no one will be able to tell if you ever changed or not!

Jesus was ordained to follow the path that He did from the beginning. It was not as a result of what happened in Eden, God knew it was going to happen. and we were purchased with His blood, every person from that point until the last person on earth is born and chooses to follow Christ or not. They and we are all forgiven, it only matters who decides to choose and which choice is made, whether to follow Christ as your Savior or not. That is the only choice which really makes a difference in your life now and in eternity!

What about those people who have not accepted Jesus as their savior, do they have to follow the same rules as we do? Actually, they don’t because they are not bound to any commitment to Jesus. They are free to do as they please. Many people would comment that that is unfair but how is it unfair? Being bound to Jesus is a choice, a choice that we make as Christians, while the same is also true about people who have chosen not to follow Christ. They have chosen to be committed to their own beliefs and moral codes, regardless of the eternal consequences.

Their choice is for their immediate satisfaction, right now and they choose not to worry about eternity until it gets here, if it ever does. Now, we know that eternity is true because Jesus spoke of it in the Bible, by many who do not believe don’t think that there is anything beyond this life. Many who do not follow Jesus, don’t come to church and even if they do, they don’t believe what the Bible says so they don’t “listen” to what they hear in church anyway. Their ears heard it but they choose not to listen, yet when they cross through the door of death and find their judgment waiting for them, it is too late to decide then.

What can we do for our loved ones if they are un-decided about their Christian life or whether they will even follow Christ? Pray for them, witness to them, answer their questions, bring them to church with you. After all of this and they are still un-decided, pray for them some more, but don’t push because other than prayer will seem as if you are doing just that, pushing. Many people don’t like “pushy Christians” and they will put even more distance between themselves and you and Jesus! At this point, the seeds have been planted so let God grow them. The Holy Spirit will take over as the gardener and it is out of your hands.

How does death affect you?


The life that each of us lives here is dependent upon the life that we are brought up in. How we are brought up by our parents or even the lack of parental figures can have a great impact on our life. But, what about our spiritual life? Our parents or grand-parents have a tremendous impact on how we view God or our belief in Him.

What about death? Does it have an effect on your life? It depends on who dies. If they are close to you like your father or mother, then yes it has a great impact on your life for years to come. Whether you admit it or not, it does have an impact on your life. Whether the death happens at a young age or if you are an adult also makes a difference.

What about your knowledge of their relationship with Jesus. Does that make a difference in how their death has an effect on you? For Christians, it does have a great impact because we have the hope of seeing them again in heaven one day. Then we will have an eternity to truly get to know them and understand them instead of the limited amount of time we have in this life.

Time, during our life on earth, takes away many joys of living because between our job and the things that have to be done for our children such as school, home-work, games, recitals, etc. all seem to get in the way. We do enjoy our children and being with them but wouldn’t it be better if we could get to know them individually, rather than watching them grow up in relation to other kids and their peers? I don’t mean to take their friends away or to school them at home (although that is what I do because I can’t afford the schools in our area), but to really get to know your children you have to spend time with them.

To get to know your friends, you have to spend time with them as well. “Facebook friends” are acquaintances, unless you live in a town that includes all of them and you take the time to get to know all of them! Many people could not know, really know, all of the people in their friend’s list. What about knowing Jesus? He is the most important friend that you can ever have and yet many just know about Him. They have heard about Him in church or from family, but they don’t know Him!

Death may not seem to have much in relation to knowing your friends or Jesus, but it does. Your friends’ death impacts your life. Your death will impact your family and your friends lives. If you are close friends, it will be a more profound impact. Just as the death of Lazarus had an impact on Jesus, it also had a profound impact on his sisters. When Jesus came to the tomb, “he wept” but He did not weep for Lazarus. He was weeping because of those who did not believe who He was, even after raising Lazarus from the dead.

Death is a great equalizer. No one can escape it and it comes to rich and poor, old and young, Communist or Democratic, and all continents and to those who believe in Christ and those who do not. Compared to eternity, which comes after death, our life is like a puff of smoke. I know that some may not believe that they have an eternal soul and I don’t have the proof to give you. But we will all find out about it after our death and our belief in eternity or not won’t change the reality that we will find ourselves in at that point.

Look for Jesus and salvation through belief in Him because eternity is a long time and I would rather meet you in Heaven than find out that you are in hell because of a decision not to come to know Him.