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Post by Jim Pate on Nov 24, 2018 10:38:49 GMT -5
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." - Philippians 3: 20-21
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Post by Jim Pate on Nov 25, 2018 9:37:21 GMT -5
Psalm 7:17
17 I will give thanks to the LORD because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the LORD Most High.
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Post by Jim Pate on Nov 26, 2018 9:51:32 GMT -5
But about the resurrection of the dead -- have you not read what God said to you, "I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob"? He is not the God of the dead but of the living. When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. - Matthew 22: 31-33
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Post by Jim Pate on Nov 28, 2018 10:08:17 GMT -5
1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
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Post by Jim Pate on Nov 29, 2018 10:12:51 GMT -5
Colossians 3:17
17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
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Post by Jim Pate on Nov 30, 2018 10:39:39 GMT -5
Ephesians 4:1-3
(1) I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, (2) With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; (3) Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
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Post by Jim Pate on Nov 30, 2018 10:40:49 GMT -5
Revelation 14:7
7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
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Post by Jim Pate on Nov 30, 2018 10:43:00 GMT -5
"In the resurrection we will have spiritual bodies. Our natural bodies came from Adam, our spiritual bodies come from Christ. Christ is the second Adam, offering us new bodies not subject to destruction. As Paul says: "as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man [Adam], so we shall bear the likeness of the heavenly one [Christ]" (I Corinthians 15:49).
Our spiritual bodies are Christ-like bodies. Jesus came to share with us the life in our mortal bodies so that we would also be able to share in his spiritual body. "Mere human nature," Paul says, "cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (I Corinthians 15:50). Jesus came to dress our perishable nature with imperishability and our mortal nature with immortality (see I Corinthians 15:53). Thus it is in the body that our spiritual life finds its fullest manifestation."
Henri Nouwen
For further reflection...
"For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive." - I Corinthians 15: 21-22 (NIV)
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Post by Jim Pate on Dec 1, 2018 13:51:49 GMT -5
I've felt separated from God for the past few days. It's an empty, lonely feeling. Our Lord cannot coexist with sin. When I sin, I become separated from God and until I confess and repent, the Lord cannot give me His comfort. I cannot fathom eternity separated from His presence.
Isaiah 59:1-2
Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
2 Thessalonians 1:9
They (those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus) will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
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Post by Jim Pate on Dec 2, 2018 10:10:06 GMT -5
1 Samuel 12:24
24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.
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Post by Jim Pate on Dec 2, 2018 10:12:45 GMT -5
Do we desire to be with Christ in the resurrection? It seems that most of us are not waiting for this new life but instead are doing everything possible to prolong our mortal lives. Still, as we grow more deeply into the spiritual life - the life in communion with our risen Lord - we gradually get in touch with our desire to move through the gate of death into the eternal life with Christ. This is no death wish but a desire for the fulfillment of all desires. Paul strongly experienced that desire. He writes: "Life to me, of course, is Christ, but then death would be a positive gain. ... I am caught in this dilemma: I want to be gone and to be with Christ, and this is by far the stronger desire - and yet for your sake to stay alive in this body is a more urgent need" (Philippians 1:21-24). This is a dilemma that few of us have, but it lays bare the core of the spiritual struggle.
Henri Nouwen
For further reflection...
"Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires." - Romans 8: 5
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Post by Jim Pate on Dec 3, 2018 11:47:28 GMT -5
There comes a time in all our lives when we must prepare for death. When we become old, get seriously ill, or are in great danger, we can't be preoccupied simply with the question of how to get better unless "getting better" means moving on to a life beyond our death. In our culture, which in so many ways is death oriented, we find little if any creative support for preparing ourselves for a good death. Most people presume that our only desire is to live longer on this earth. Still, dying, like giving birth, is a way to new life, and as Ecclesiastes says: "There is a season for everything: ... a time for giving birth, a time for dying" (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2).
We have to prepare ourselves for our death with the same care and attention as our parents prepared themselves for our births."
Henri Nouwen
For further reflection...
"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death -- that is, the devil -- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." - Hebrews 2: 14, 15 (NIV)
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Post by Jim Pate on Dec 4, 2018 10:57:31 GMT -5
Revelation 1:3
(3) Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
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Post by Jim Pate on Dec 5, 2018 10:49:06 GMT -5
2 Peter 3:10
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
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Post by Jim Pate on Dec 6, 2018 11:05:55 GMT -5
Luke 12:4-5
(4) And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. (5) But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
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