There Is Nothing Random

In the dictionary, random means { made, done, happening, or chosen without method or conscious decision}

We want to think that their lives have random moments, unexpected things that occur without any prompting. And they do seem very random to us, and even are random to us, however, there is nothing, absolutely nothing random about our lives or the moments/things that touch them. Each moment has been carefully orchestrated by a Master Planner. Every person we meet, every meal we eat, everything in our lives has a beginning someplace else and that place is with God Almighty. God is very conscious of what he has done and is doing. He has a master plan and although we do not have all the dots connected, he does, he is weaving the tapestry of our lives together according to His will, plan, and purpose.

God is Sovereign, it is an absolute truth, there is nothing, absolutely nothing outside of his control. Even down to the day and the way we become a believer, born again. We have this idea that we participate in our saving, wrong! God does the wooing and God does the saving. Man does nothing! We are born [dead] in our sin, there is nothing in us that desires God, dead men cannot want anything, they are dead!

His word tells us that he has {chosen} us before the foundation of the world began, and that Jesus will lose none that the Father gives him. John 6:39 “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” That means that if you are his if he has chosen you, one day at the right moment you will believe. And when you repent of your sins and believe, it is done, no take backs, no losing it, done!

Acts 17:25 “Nor is He worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

Jonah2:9 “But I will sacrifice to You. With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”

Matthew 25:34 “Come you who are blessed of My Father, said Jesus, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

John 15:16 ” You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.”

2 Timothy 1:9 “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.”

Romans 8:29 “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

So, do we have free will, yes we do, but it is not as free as you might suppose? God tells us in scripture of instances where he exercised “self-control, like this one about Babylon, an enemy of his people. [Isaiah 42:14] “I have kept quiet for a long time. I remained silent and restrained myself. Like a woman giving birth, I will groan, pant, and gasp all at once.] He also tolerates for a while those who misuse their free will to harm others. [Psalm37:10,11] “Just a little while longer and the wicked will be no more; You will look at where they were, And they will not be there. 11 But the meek will possess the earth, And they will find exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”
{Our “free will” never trumps “God’s Sovereignty.”}

God is allowing for a time people to do those things that are contrary to his nature, but even in all these things, He has a plan a purpose. He uses them to draw his children ever closer to his side. Nothing is wasted, not sin, not illness, not a danger, no pain, no suffering. Everything has a purpose in our lives, nothing is random in our lives, God has all power, He just chooses to restrain himself for a season.

If you are walking through a hard season of life right now, it is a God-ordained season, a time to grow and stretch you into a greater likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not mean it will be easy, and it may last way past what you think you need, but God in his Sovereignty knows exactly how long each season of our lives needs to be.
This gives me such comfort and peace knowing that God has it all under His Sovereign watchful gaze. I can rest in his goodness and know that no matter the mountain in front of me, he has me, I will be okay.

I personally have had long seasons of hardships of one kind or another. Times when God seemed far away and unfeeling and uncaring. However, I now can look back and see that he was very near and I was never alone. He has given me peace about those times and sometimes I can trace the growth and others I cannot. It does not mean I did not grow or change it was just more subtle.

Then there is the argument that if God already knows those He will save why should we proselytize, why you ask because we are commanded to do so. Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”

You and I do not know who “the called are” .” We are simply told to proclaim to the world Jesus and let Jesus do the saving of those The Father has given him.Romans 8:30″And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified

We are the clay in the potter’s hands, and he can use that clay as he sees fit. We are either born vessels of mercy or vessels of wrath.
Romans 9:21 “Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?”

I will leave you with this last verse. Isaiah 64:8
“But now, O Lord, you are the Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

So, you see our lives seem random with the things that occur, but they are only random to us, which makes life fun and interesting all at the same time. Don’t you think?

If you are saved now is a good time to thank the Lord for your salvation, he called you, he keeps you and he will get you to Heaven…even in spite of yourself!

Thank you, Jesus!!

There is a great debate among the church as to whether God is three persons in one, a triune God or that there is no trinity at all. I can find no support for the latter, but much support of the first, that although there is one God, he exists in three persons. There are essentials and non -essentials pertaining to church denomination and salvation. Many churches are very legalistic in their beliefs, for instance some believe woman cannot wear make- up, jewelry, pants, no cutting your hair and the list goes on. Other denominations believe you cannot dance, see movies, watch television etc… those really are not important for Salvation, however, they can have an effect on our walk and other peoples relationship with the Lord. They are non-essentials.

We always need to be aware of what we are watching, looking at on TV or other places. We should be aware of how we dress because men are visual by nature, granted some will still look and lust even if you were in a potato sack. We are to be Holy because He is Holy. 1 Peter 1:16 because it is written,”Be holy, for I am Holy,” and conduct ourselves in a way that builds up the kingdom, what we do matters, but it cannot save or un-save us, but what we believe about Christ is most important! It is an essential, not a non-essential.

I am simply going to write a few of the verses, not all that support s triune God. 

(Eph 4:4-6) 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

(1 Cor 8:6) 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

(1 John 1:4) 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

(Matt 3:16-1) 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased.

Isaiah 48:16
16 “Come near me and listen to this:“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret; at the time it happens, I am there.” And now the Sovereign Lord has sent me,endowed with his Spirit.

John 10:30 ” I and the Father are one.”

John 14:16-17 ” And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him or knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”

1 John 5:
7-8 “For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”

What we see His there is one God, one essence in three persons. I will admit it is hard to understand, but clearly what scripture teaches. We must accept by faith something that seems impossible, but impossible only by human standards and minds. God’s ways are higher than ours,

 (Isaiah 55:8-9)  
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 
(Job 11:7) “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?

If you are one of those people who cannot wrap your mind around a triune God, search the scriptures it will become more and more clear to you. As you read ask the Holy Spirit to teach you, He will. That is one of his roles in our lives, teaching us the truth.

It really is a strange way to save the world. God, the Creator of the universe, here before anything was ever created, knew he would one day come in the form of a baby to save a sick and dying world. It was not a last minute plan because things did not go as he had first expected them to, it was always in his mind to do. When Adam was formed, He knew that one day He would walk this earth as a man. He would willingly go to a cruel cross and die for the sins of the entire world upon him. It was not a loud battlefield cry that was heard the night he came, it was a sweet infant cry making its way across the world into the hearts of shepherds and kings and ordinary people like you and me. It is still heard today throughout the world, each time a sinner is born again.

I often wonder about the barn he was born in. I wonder if there were cross beams that were above the manger and when the light was just so, did it look like the shadow of a cross upon him? There was a shadow of a cross, others may not have been able to see it with human eyes, but it was there, always there. I wonder if Mary sensed it or was the moment just as wonderful for her as it is for every mother who has ever seen and held their baby for the first time?

Can you imagine the very one who had spoken life into existence, formed the oceans and animals were helplessly lying in a manger needing everything done for him by a mother, a very young inexperienced mother? The all powerful, all knowing, eternal and perfect, lying there needing his diaper changed… Really it amazes me, humbles me, thrills me.

I often wonder about Mary. This child had her entire life altered in one moment, the angel came and told her she would become pregnant although she did not know a man and that he would save the people one day. Can you imagine how as a mother how often she must have repeated what the Angel’s had said over and over again as Jesus grew into boyhood than into a young man? She must have watched him grow, seen the purity he walked in and marveled and wondered. Did she remember those words when she stood watching her son on the cross where he was dying a cruel and undeserved death? Did she feel afraid then? The angel had said not to be afraid, but was she? I think I might have been.

He did not have to come, but he did. He chose to come as one of us, yes, it seems a strange way to save a world, but obviously the right way. For all his ways are just and right. His love propelled him through time and space to save me, a filthy wretch like me, I am eternally grateful for the love that made him come and held him to the cross.

Luke 2 tells us the story of Jesus birth. Take time to read it today and be thankful that he chose to come and he chose to die. Nothing was a mistake and all was miraculous and wonderful. All planned from before time began and carried out in his way, his time. Thank you, Lord, for the amazing love, mercy, and grace that made you cry in a manger and die on a cross.

Each of us has evil within our hearts. It is a hard concept to wrap our minds around. We want to believe that we are born into this world with a pure heart. Not true! We are sinners from the start. Scripture tells us that we should not trust our hearts. Jeremiah 17:9 says this: ‘The heart is more deceitful than all else. And is more desperately sick; Who can understand it?’ Then we read in Matthew 15:19 these words: ‘For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. Sounds to me like this is the place where all these things start.

Once the evil has taken root in your heart and mind it is not long before just thinking about it is not good enough, we then find ourselves needing to physically act on these things. it is very hard to reign in a heart that is out of control. We fool ourselves into believing that we can handle it, that if we are in sin we can just stop at any time, what we fail to realize is we are not wrestling with normal things, we are very much wrestling with spirits and demons that we cannot and do not understand. We must take our thoughts captive and surrender to the Lordship of Jesus in our lives.

Romans 12:2 says: ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.’ And then in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 it says: ‘For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ5.’ So, what does it mean to test the spirits and to take our thoughts captive? First, we must stay in God’s word, we must seek truth out of the riches of his Holy word and we must compare it with the lies we are hearing elsewhere. If we are grounded in his word, allowing ourselves to be lead, fed and grown by the Holy Spirit we will less likely be able to be deceived by the enemy, we are going to know when something sounds or feels off.

His word is living and active and we can find all the answers we need inside the pages of our Bibles. Second, we must pray, seek an audience with our Lord daily. Talk it over with him. If we do this He will be faithful to reveal the truth to us and keep us from wrongdoing. We must practice always reigning our thoughts in when we see they are going in a wrong direction, we need to examine ourselves to see why we are attracted to the sin and evil and ask for God’s help in rooting it out and getting rid of it.

The longer we dwell on a wrong thought, the harder it is to let it go. The more our flesh wants to fulfill its lust and have its way. We think we can trust our flesh, and that is one of our biggest lies we believe from the enemy. Is having a wrong thought sin, no, we all have times when our minds go in the wrong direction, but we are in sin when we refuse to surrender our thoughts and allow God to cleanse us, and when we like our thoughts and continue to allow them to stay or proceed in the wrong direction. Once we have allowed our minds to have their way, it drops into our hearts and takes root. Now we are in trouble!

We must daily walk the halls of our minds and hearts to see what junk we have stored up. God knows our thoughts even when we do not confess them to him. We are never hiding our sinful thoughts from God, we are simply fooling ourselves.

He will not judge us, he will simply give us his truth and help us as we desire to walk in purity of heart and mind before him. So, if you find that you are allowing something to keep your thoughts turned away from God and truth, or you find that your heart is already entangled with sin and evil; run to him and ask him to cleanse you, He will. He will never turn you away, never

Are you a thankful person? Someone who counts their blessings? Do you stop to think of all the good in your life or are you always complaining seeing the negative side of everything? Are you joyful, happy, content? We are told to be thankful, to let the peace of God rule in our hearts: Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Do you allow the peace of God to rule in your heart? I think it is an active moment by moment choice to be peaceful and thankful. Life comes at us hard sometimes and it is so easy to feel overwhelmed or afraid, but I think it is possible and God’s desire for us is to let peace rule in our hearts. 

We are told several times to be thankful, Ephesians 5:20 says: Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says: In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  Wow, being thankful for all things, even the hard or sad things? How? I will be the first to admit that there are times that being thankful in a hard situation is not easy, but if it were not possible he would not have told us to do it. I think like anything it is a choice. God does not make us be thankful against our will, but he asks us to, and I believe when we do we are stepping out in faith, saying,” Lord, I do not understand why, I cannot see how, but I know you are God and you are faithful and you will do according to your will and for my good, so, therefore, I am thankful for this momentary test or trial. 

Roman’s 14:17 says: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Philippians 4:7 says: And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So, how do we have peace? If you are a child of God and belong to his kingdom, peace is a part of that kingdom. When you reach out in faith, with a thankful heart and ask God for his peace, he will rain down peace in such measure that we cannot understand it. We will simply find ourselves resting in Jesus knowing that,” He’s got it!”. 

God’s desire is not that we go through life worrying and full of anxiety. His desire is that we choose to be thankful and we ask him to give us his peace in the midst of life’s storms. To understand that he is faithful. He will never leave us or forsake us. That alone brings me peace & makes me thankful! 

Practice peacefulness and thankfulness. In other words, make a choice when you wake up to think of at least two things to think on that make you feel thankful. I am sure if you are like me there are certainly more than two, but at least there are two. And in those moments when you feel your peace starting to fade, think on all the times you thought,”this is it”, nothing will ever be okay again and look at where you are, most likely better than okay.

God’s word is such a rich, vast and deep well of scripture, life that will feed your soul. If you immerse yourself in it, it will not bring fear or unthankfulness, no the opposite will happen, peace will invade your mind and heart and thankfulness will take root.

Once you have felt that unshakable confidence in Christ take hold and bring about these emotions, pass it along, everyone needs a little more peace and a lot more thankfulness! We may never see it in our world, but we can see it individually, in every day seasons of life.

There is something in the knowing that “God has it, He can handle it,” that makes me feel calm.

Do you ever think maybe God is like one of those circus acts where the guys are spinning saucers on the end of a rod balancing, moving back and forth trying desperately not to let one fall? I mean let’s face it, it does take a good eye, good balance and coordination, you have to watch all the saucers. and hopefully, you won’t let one slip. I think a lot of people think that is how it works with God. He is up there trying to keep the earth on its axis all the while balancing each of our lives, just crossing his fingers and hoping none of us fall. Really? First, let’s look at scripture to see what it has to say about God.

Psalm 121:3 “He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.”

Luke 12:7 “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

This God who formed you will take care of you. His word tells that He is faithful.
Psalm 36:5 ”Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.”

Psalm 37:3 “Trust in the Lord, and do good, Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.”

He has ordered our steps, everything we do is under the watchful gaze of a Sovereign God. It may feel at times like our lives are totally out of control, we have no direction, but God is ever present, always guiding us. His plans for us are good. Jeremiah 29:11 says: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,” plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

If we will just surrender to His Lordship in our lives we would find ourselves feeling less out of control and more settled and secure. My life is not under the direction of a mad scientist making things happen for the fun of it. Thinking that is like me putting God on mans level. We view his abilities in the same regard as ours. He is not us! I struggle with believing that he can run the universe, keep the oceans in their borders, stars in the sky and that sort of thing all the while keeping my life under his control. I obviously could not do it, I struggle with walking while chewing gum, but this is the God, the one who formed all we see, the one who formed me, who knew me before I was born. Jeremiah 1:5 says this: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you before you were born I set you apart, I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

I find such peace in knowing that I am not just a blip on some screen somewhere out in the cosmos. God thinks about me, all the time. His thoughts toward me are so many that they outnumber the sands of the seas. Psalm 139:18.
So, take comfort in knowing He has you, He always has and He always will. He loves you and will accomplish his plans for you, and he will not drop you, He will keep right on spinning and spinning for all eternity.

Our God really is an awesome God. He simply speaks and things are made, his breath brings dirt to life.n [Adam] He isn’t spinning saucers, trying to keep his eye on us, his eyes are never off of us. When we cannot trace his hand in our lives, we can trust his heart. Stop putting God at your level, thinking that he is limited in his abilities and power. There is nothing, absolutely nothing he cannot do! Instead, rest in his abilities, rest in his goodness, rest in his love for you.

I have this melody that is coursing through my veins at all times. It is not a musical melody, but a Holy Spirit melody that I hear and feel rushing throughout my body at all times. Do you know what it is? The song of the redeemed, the joy of the Lord, the constant reminder that I am never alone and I am his. Maybe you to have that melody running throughout your body.

Oh, what bliss it is to know that I am forever the Lords. Nothing can steal “being His” from me, nothing! This life with its ups and downs cannot take it from me. No one that I know or will meet can take it from me, not even Satan can take it from me. Oh, he can aggravate me, try to steal my joy, play with my head, but he cannot ever take “being His” from me. So, the melody in my veins, my soul, my body sings on, every day all day and I rest in it. I walk in it, I move forward in it. Trusting that God will see me through every moment of every day.

John 10:28-29 “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.

1 John 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Romans 5:1 ” Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

John 6:39 “This is the will of HIm who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.”

I hope these scriptures bless your heart, make you feel secure in Christ and that the melody will start sounding in your heart and mind every moment of every day! Isaiah 26:3 ” Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.”

Play on sweet melody…I hear you…I rejoice in you…I have peace in you… I am His!

Do you ever feel that you have wasted so much of your life on meaningless things? The pursuit of something more, the allusive whatever that the world holds up and makes you think you just have to have it, or go there, or do that? I have those times when I am sitting quietly and my mind starts to wonder, it goes down corridors of my brain that I have not visited for a while and I look back and see so much wasted time, so many could have, should have moments.

I wonder then, if I see this as wasted meaningless time, how must God view it? I should have been busier with furthering his kingdom, I should have made a better choice in that moment, I could have done more and on and on it goes like a merry-go-round. The scenes become blurry and I am left feeling like a failure, and I hear the devil say to me “loser move on!”

Then I hear the Holy Spirit whisper to me, “do you really think you have that much control over your life?” Your steps are ordered before you are born, we are told this in scripture in Psalm 37:23 “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.” And then this one, which really says it all, Proverbs 20:24 “A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?” I know threre have been many times that I did not understand my own way, as a matter of fact, I thought I must have gone crazy to do that, say that etc.

The turns I have made in my lifetime, the decisions that I have made God himself has allowed. He was there every step of the way, in the good, the bad and the down-right ugly of my life. The things I have done whether they were good or bad were done with his full knowledge and his beforehand knowledge. My life is not my own and He has allowed mistakes to be made in order to show me my need for him. Who I am without him. When I do not let the Lord be Lord of my life my decisions are made in my flesh. And my flesh makes some bad decisions!

See, nothing is wasted with God. No mistake is so bad that he cannot forgive it and redeem it when we repent and turn. He does not care how many times you have messed up or with whom you have messed up, or that you did this or that in the heat of the moment; what he cares about is what you do with it. The enemy loves to accuse us, he loves to keep us constantly looking back at all the dumb mistakes, the careless words etc. His desire is to keep us from moving forward in Christ. See, he cannot steal our salvation, but he can steal our joy if we let him. It is a decision. We must choose to accept the grace we have been given, trust by faith that God can use even our biggest mess up for his glory and our good and move forward, looking to Jesus. Always forward…

When I do have those look back in time moments, I try to quickly steer my thoughts back to the present, thanking God for his unending love and mercy. Thanking God that He is writing my story, He is master of my ship, He alone is able to finish the work in me and make me all he intended me to be and so much more than I believe myself to be.

Keep on marching soldier, ignore the enemy, look to Jesus, move in the grace and mercy afforded us each day and trust the Creator, the giver of life and the one who orders our way to do all that is needed to get us to Heaven, redeemed, sanctified, justified and purified, complete and righteous, all because of Jesus.

It really is ALL about him !

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-1 we read these words “But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

I hate when someone I love passes away, we all do. That place in our lives and heart that was filled with this person cannot be filled by another. We miss their smiles, their conversation and so much more. I remember when my grandmother got so very ill and I knew that she would pass away. She had always been my safe place to run. She had always loved me with the kind of love that does not judge and is always there. She gave me advice and wisdom from the word. Oh, how very much I loved and felt I still needed her.

I remember about a year before her death we had been at the family cemetery and she made the comment that she would probably be the next person that was laid to rest. In felt sick, physically sick at the thought and I said to her, ” I honestly do not think I can survive this earth and life without you hear.” She sweetly replied,”well, of course, you can, God will be right there with you and you will see me again one day.”

I know that my grandmother and all those whom I have loved on this earth who belonged to Jesus and have passed away are not dead. The word tells me that they are asleep. Resting, waiting. They will one day be resurrected and join their sweet souls in the air. Can you imagine, I try to. Knowing that she and others are just asleep gives me a sense of peace and comfort. I know that this rest is the most wonderful, blissful rest they have ever experienced and there is nothing that can interrupt their sleep except Jesus. There are no bad dreams plaguing them, they are not uncomfortable. They are simply waiting. There King, the one they longed to see and be with will return for their bodies one day. Oh, their souls have already been enjoying eternity with Jesus, they have already joined in the praise and worship of their King with the other Heavenly hosts.

Some people see the cold hard ground they are placed in as a bad place, I see the exact opposite. I see a place of protection and peace, closed in comfort. Life comes out of the soil, Adam was made from the dust of the ground, “dirt”. What better place to wait than in the rich earth that was our beginnings!

Our eternity starts the moment we believe, we live it every day. And if Jesus tarries we will all one day die. No one gets out of this life another way, death is the door to the next life. If you are a believer there is promised sleep until his return, but if you are not a believer, that is when you need to fear death. Our souls will spend eternity somewhere, we all have an eternity going on. If you do not know this Jesus, then you will go to hell, a place of utter despair and torture. There is a complete lack of hope in hell, which I personally think is among the worst things. Even on this earth we have moments of deep pain, but we have a hope that things will get better and they do, but in hell, there is no such thing. Nothing for all eternity will get better.

Through our pain when we lose a loved one to death in this life, we can rest assured that their souls are already with the one whom they have loved and that their mortal bodies, that we held and loved will one day be raised and glorified eternally with their Lord. What a wonderful thing to think about and look forward to for them and one day for us! I will leave you with these words.

1 Corinthians 15:54-55 “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on the immortality, then shall come to pass the saying this is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
Like a Caterpillar that waits in its cocoon, it isn’t a thing of beauty until it emerges a Butterfly, completely changed!