07/16/2020
We are not meant to be frightened by death, nor to dread its coming. We know that what awaits us when we arrive in our heavenly home will far exceed anything we can imagine, and that our peace and joy there will be unquenchable. So knowing this, do we take heart in the thought that it is ours to die? Do we long to be forever in the presence of God and sitting with Jesus? Does this thought drive us on towards the perfection of our faith, and a love of God that allows us to serve Him fearlessly in this our mortal life?
“Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 5:8 ESV
This past spring In Nashville, we had a terrible time of storms, and tornadoes, with people losIng their lives and many homes being destroyed. In this time of destruction, and death, men and women of faith fell heartbroken into the arms of God, and received comfort there. Calamity, God’s love, and the courage we find in our faith, all joined to raise some up as heroes in the midst of the storms, soothed our mourning, and rebuilt earthly lives in the aftermath. In these hard times we held fast to our faith as we praised and served God. Now we continue on in our service, our worship, and yes our anticipation, as we wait patiently to join those who have gone before.
“For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
2 Corinthians 5:1 ESV
God’s help comes in many forms; it comes in such ways as rescue, in His merciful provision, and yes in comforting us, but we find no greater help in Him than the strengthening of our faith through Jesus, and the encouragement of His Holy Spirit, so that our eternity will be spent with Him. This is our great hope, His wonderful promise, and it allows us to experience what many think of as unfathomable... to find joy in the midst of our suffering and tribulation.
“For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”
2 Corinthians 5:4-5 ESV
I say all of this so that you will find courage in the face of the hard times you encounter in this world. God gives us loves, and then they are taken away, just as He gave us His Son Jesus, and then brought Him home again, but our promise is to be reunited with Jesus once more. He is preparing to come again, and just as we will see Him, we will also see those we once mourned, and who are now with Christ... our reunion is coming.
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ESV
If you are living without the hope we find in Jesus, and the comfort that God gives us in His promise of eternal life, then it is certain that you are experiencing the human fear of death today, and that your only possibility of courage comes in believing in the finality of death; yet friend, so much more awaits you in the truth of God, and His love for you. If you would accept Jesus as your savior, and His Heavenly Father as God, then eternal peace, joy, and life awaits you, and all the fear will fall away... as a victim of God’s mercy, and grace. Are you ready to ask Jesus to come into your life, and God to reveal His love, and many promises to you? Well don’t hesitate, because today Is all we are ever promised, and tomorrow may be too late.
“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”
Proverbs 27:1 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for removing the fear of death from us, and replacing it with a longing to be with you forever. Thank you for your Son Jesus Christ who has washed away our sins, and defeated death, so that through our faith in Him we would abide eternally with you. In you there is no dread of death, and no hopelessness in life... not in calamity, storms, or even our last breath are we alone, nor are we without your deliverance. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who shares His eternity with us, and reunites loves that they might glow brightly in your eternal light once more. Merciful are you for lifting the fear and terror of death from us, and praised be your name for the peace, joy, and love that fills us in your presence. Hear our prayers in every storm as we call out to you, trusting, even in our darkest hour, that you are there, and that your perfect will is being done. We worship you in the happy days, and in the sad mournful days alike. We know that you are good, and that in you all things are working together towards that goodness. Forgive us our sins Lord, and judge us not by them, but separate them from us... as far as the East is from the west. See us pure and shining bright in Christ as we stand in judgment before you, bathe us in your grace, and in that way find us worthy of eternal life with you. Great are you our God, and greatly to be praised now, and forevermore.
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
John 3:16-17 ESV
Rich Forbes