To Be...Living Forever
June 28
So, my bosom buddy has breast cancer. She's been one of my "happy spots" ever since the day I met her thirty five years ago. I don't want to see her suffer, but I want to walk through this valley with her and rejoice when she rings that chemo bell on her last treatment and has victory over this disease.
One of my daughter in laws knows the depth of my love for this friend and she asked..."Are you going to shave your head when she loses her hair due to chemo?" I hadn't thought about that, but I did offer to get a wig with her, so you may see me styling a new look.
When I expressed my sadness over this journey, she reminded me of my stroke and says, "We all have trials to trod." The good thing is we have the Lord and his promises to lean onto. We also have "forever joy" accounted to us.
I thank God for the security, the confidence, the comfort that comes in the relationships with friends with whom we know we will live with forever.
My guess is I'll be waiting in heaven long before this friend gets there.
John Piper wrote: "There is the longing that we shall live forever in joy. That we not come to an empty end after a full and valuable life. That we not become a zero, or worse, damned. and so Paul says that because Christ is raised those who have fallen asleep in him-those who have died in faith-have not perished. Or positively, they are alive. They will live forever. They live the way Christ lives. They will enter into the joy of their Master.
In raising him from the dead...
he gave us forgiveness and glorified Jesus as the all-sufficient forgiver;
he gave us a friend to count on and glorified Jesus as utterly reliable;
he gave us guidance and unchanging truth and glorified Jesus as the absolute foundation
for truth and righteousness;
he gave us a life that is not pitiable but enviable, a ministry that is not in vain but fruitful,
and glorified Jesus as the source and goal of all life an all ministry;
and he gave us everlasting joy that will not be ended by death, and glorified Jesus as the author of life, the victor over death, and the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep."
"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
My guess is I'll be waiting in heaven long before this friend gets there.
John Piper wrote: "There is the longing that we shall live forever in joy. That we not come to an empty end after a full and valuable life. That we not become a zero, or worse, damned. and so Paul says that because Christ is raised those who have fallen asleep in him-those who have died in faith-have not perished. Or positively, they are alive. They will live forever. They live the way Christ lives. They will enter into the joy of their Master.
In raising him from the dead...
he gave us forgiveness and glorified Jesus as the all-sufficient forgiver;
he gave us a friend to count on and glorified Jesus as utterly reliable;
he gave us guidance and unchanging truth and glorified Jesus as the absolute foundation
for truth and righteousness;
he gave us a life that is not pitiable but enviable, a ministry that is not in vain but fruitful,
and glorified Jesus as the source and goal of all life an all ministry;
and he gave us everlasting joy that will not be ended by death, and glorified Jesus as the author of life, the victor over death, and the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep."
"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words." 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
These two loved getting their beehives on.
