HE ENCOURAGES
Those Who Remain
"...We which are alive and remain..." Those who remain are the ones that are alive today. The LORD wants to help and encourage us who are alive and remain.
Our life must go on.
First HE tells us not to " sorrow...as others which have not hope." HE is not saying that there is no sorrow in the loss of loved ones. The LORD JESUS wept at the grave of Lazarus in John 11:35. HIS heart was broken, and HIS eyes were filled with tears. Yet HE knew that Lazarus was alive, and HE knew where he was.
Truth will not keep your heart from breaking, but it will give you a reason to go on. It is impossible not to have a broken heart when someone we love and care for dies. However, we must remember in our sorrow that our life goes on. There are others who need us. Our sorrow and heartache is real, but we must not be carried away to where we lose all hope.
Sometimes the survivor of a terrible accident in which a loved one was taken has a hard time understanding why they were not taken and others spared. When a family member is stricken with sickness, and their life is cut short, we often question, "Why ? Why them and not me ?"
I came across a poem that was a blessing to me about suffering and death written by O.Ray Burgess in 1949 called "Why She Suffered"
So you asked me why she suffered
All the days and all the hours,
And I know I cannot tell you;
This lies only in GOD's powers.
Someday when this life is ended
And the veil of tears has passed,
And we sail into the Harbor
Of GOD's promises at last.
Then we'll know the hidden secrets
HE kept back from us a while,
And we'll find our greatest triumph
In the sunshine of GOD's smile.
In this life we find our trials,
And we suffer through the years,
Often we are disappointed
And we weep with scalding tears.
But someday when HE has called us
To that land of Brighter Day,
We will then be glad we suffered
For it all will pass away.
So you asked me why she suffered
And I still cannot tell why,
But we'll know someday, rejoicing,
In that Blessed By and By.
The Apostle Paul said, " I thank my GOD upon every remembrance of you, " and then he said, " because I have you in my heart " in Philip.1:3,7. Our lives are forever touched and blessed by the people we love and by those who love us.
If their life truly influenced our life for good, then we will become their crown of rejoicing at the Judgement seat of CHRIST in 1st.Thes.2:19. Their influence never ends if we carry their memory with us. They could say, " For now we live, if ye stand fast in the LORD " in 1st.Thess.3:8
We have something to look forward to.
The LORD reminds us that when HE returns, " we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the LORD in the air: and so shall we ever be with the LORD."
HE says, " Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning " in Psalm 30:5. The joy that HE is talking about is when we are reunited with our loved ones. We truly have something to look forward to. That something is the great resurrection day.
We have others to encourage and help.
The LORD said that we should " comfort one another with these words." What is hard for us to understand while we are going through darkness is that one day our experience of grace will be used to comfort and help others who are going through the same valley.
Many of our great hymns of faith were written in an hour of sorrow. GOD draws near to us in these times of heartache and gives us " in the night HIS song " in Psalm 42:8. One such song is, " It is Well with My Soul " by H.G.Spafford and Phillip P.Bliss. The first and second stanzas go:
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, THOU hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
And LORD haste the day
When my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,
The trump shall resound
and the LORD shall descend,
"Even so"--it is well with my soul.
The LORD has left us here to be a blessing and a comfort to others. HE will make it possible for our life to cross the path of someone who needs the great truth GOD has given us, someone for whom we can be a brook by the way. " Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
Those Without Hope
The third group we are told about is " others which have no hope." How sad to think of hurting people going through the loss of a friend or loved one and " having no hope, and without GOD in the world " as Ephesians 2:12 tells us.
Maybe you are one of those who are without GOD in this world. To die without hope and without GOD means to be separated from GOD forever.
But the LORD cares for you. HE wants you to have hope and everlasting life. HE tells us in John 3:16: " For GOD so loved the world, that HE gave HIS only begotten SON, that whosoever believeth in HIM should not perish, but have everlasting life."
The LORD wants you to know that you are loved. He said, " For GOD so loved the world..." You are part of this world, and GOD loves you.
HE also wants you to know that you are of worth. You are so precious to GOD that "...HE gave HIS only begotten SON..." He gave HIS SON to pay your sin debt.
The Bible teaches us that we are all sinners, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of GOD" in Romans 3:23. And sin must be paid for. " For the wages of sin is death..." in Romans 6:23.
The Good News is that the LORD JESUS paid our sin debt in full. " For HE hath made HIM to be sin for us..." in 2nd.Cor.5:21. HIS payment for our sin was accepted by GOD, and it satisfied GOD's requirement for forgiveness.
You may ask, " How can GOD forgive sin ?" HE can do that because of what JESUS did for us. "...While we were yet sinners, CHRIST died for us " in Romans 5:8.
GOD wants you to have a purpose in life. HE says that we " should not perish but have everlasting life." Everlasting life is ours when we turn to the LORD JESUS CHRIST in repentance and faith and receive GOD's payment for our sin. You may ask, "How do I do this ?" The answer is as simple as ABC.
A--Admit that you are a sinner, "for all have sinned and come short of the glory of GOD "in Romans 3:23
B--Believe that JESUS died for you, for "CHRIST died for our sins according to the Scriptures" in 1st. Cor.15:3.
C--Call upon the LORD to save you, "for whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be saved" in Romans 10:9-13.
Receive CHRIST today. HE has promised, " Him that cometh to ME I will in no wise cast out " in John 6:37. Come to the LORD JESUS for Salvation. If you would like to know CHRIST as your personal SAVIOR and have hope in this world, I invite you to pray this prayer and receive CHRIST today......
LORD, I know that I am a sinner, and I
believe YOU died and rose again for me.
I am trusting YOU to forgive me. Come
into my heart and save me, and help me
to live for YOU. In JESUS' name, AMEN.
Everlasting life begins when we receive CHRIST as our personal SAVIOR.
If you have received the LORD JESUS as your personal SAVIOR, " there is joy in the presence of the angels of GOD." Your loved ones in Heaven at this very moment are rejoicing over your decision. And you have a great reunion to look forward to.
The question that has been on the hearts and minds of every person from the beginning of time is this:
If a man die, shall he live again ?
The LORD JESUS answered this question and pulled back the veil of Heaven to show us a glimpse of life after death.
Tom Sexton
Five Star Publications. A ministry of Gulf Coast Baptist Church, 312 SE 24th.Ave., Cape Coral, FL 33990 (239)574-STAR
www.FiveStarChristianPublications.com
info@5scp.com
This publication was reshared to you, in its entirety, by me so that you would have a better understanding of Heaven and Life after Death.
Your servant in CHRIST,
Julie
http://wordoftruthlighthouse.blogspot.com
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