The Alpha & Omega, Beginning & end

[LordKnows]

I have sometimes found myself wondering about something that Job said to God. He said you know the exact number of days of my life.

I often hear christian claiming people say "They had their whole life ahead of them" at funerals when in reality the day they passed away was already planned. God knew exactly when their days would end. Not a second more would they live on this earth. I've noticed we're in a "feel good" era. As long as you don't hurt feelings or don't make waves or cause a fuss... Gods word isn't easy to swallow sometimes so why do so many seasoned Christians not school baby Christians or even middle aged Christians on this topic. It's inevitable we can dodge paying taxes or anything that seems unable to get away from except death. I have been asked - "Where do you think they're going Mindy, you're a Christian" I just reply "How did they live their lives? What fruit did they produce?" I won't lie or sugar coat Gods truth & when I don't I'm told "Well, that's just what you believe but they were a good person" To WHO'S standards is a person "good" ours (that doesn't matter what we see as being a good person) or God's standards that see far past what we show others.

Christians are in for a VERY rude awakening if they think that pleasing people is seen as being a good person to God. We are not of this world... we should be uncomfortable...

Not many Christians like talking about death but I do. I read where our death is more important than our birth yet that seems to get skipped by so many. "1 A good name is better than a good ointment, And the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth. 2 It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every man, And the living takes it to heart. 3Sorrow is better than laughter, For when a face is sad a heart may be happy.…''


What is your take? Am I way off base or can someone chime in & lead me...


Thanks so much, Mindy

 

[amadeus2]

When someone called Jesus, "good", he replied,

"Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." Mark 10:18

I believe that every person born has a tiny glimmer of God, that is a tiny glimmer of "good" in him. By this tiny glimmer the person can do "good" things even if the person never really finds God. Saved? Without Jesus who is saved? The little "light" (good) we have before meeting the Master is what Adam and Eve had left after they sinned the first sin. They were effectively dead to God even though that little glimmer gave them a hope... If more Light is not pursued, they will remain dead as they already are dead without Jesus.

At someone's funeral you may hear some truth, but you may also hear a lot of lies or empty hopes.

"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Matt 11:15

 

[Curtis]

I not believe we can "change" what the Lord God already knows about our life. He knows the very minute we take our last breath, but we do not know when that will happen. Just because the Lord knows the time of our demise, that does not mean he commissioned it to be that way. The very first sermon Jesus ever preached right after being anointed of the Holy Spirit, the entire congregation wanted to "kill" him by throwing off a cliff!! There were other times the Jews wanted to kill Jesus, but Jesus was lead by the Spirit to send his Apostles out to go up the feast without him, and right after they left, he went up alone. If the Jews ever wanted to kill the Lord, the easiest way to find him would be among his Apostles. Could these have killed the Lord before his time? I would yes they could have. The Spirit of God lead Jesus away from such certain death.

Three months ago while driving home from a shopping trip with my wife, we were at a stop light waiting for the light to turn green. The light turned green, and I drove out about five feet, and all of sudden I felt a hesitation to just stop. As soon as I stopped a car drove right through a red light going at least 60 MPH. If I would not have stopped my wife, and I would not still be here on this earth.
The Lord has promised to guide us with his "eye" (Psa 32:8) If we have our hearts, and minds set on the things above where he sits enthroned in all of his Glory we will always hear his voice to warn us about harm coming our way.

Our prayer has always been "to lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

 

[Curtis]

Death is not a bad thing to the born again Christian, as it is only the beginning of new chapter in our life. Death to a unsaved man pretty much stops their bid for the "white house"
The Lord has promised that he will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can handle, but will provide a way to "escape". One of the escapes the Lord can use, and has used before is something we don't like to talk about because it goes against our logical minds. Every ones cries at funerals, and every one rejoices when a new birth happens. It should be the other way around. Seeing a new born infant should cause us to remember how many trials and tribulations we had to go through in life to get to where we are now. I surly would not want to do that again!!

Isa 57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.

Here we find sometimes the Lord uses "death" as a means to deliver the righteous from the evil to come, and no one even considers this option as viable!!!
The Lord promises us that "he that has started a good work in us, will bring that work to completion, until the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Php 1:6)

When the Lord has finished his work in us, we do not just go out and frolic and play though out the earth in retirement, he takes us home. When you die, that would be the day of the Lord Jesus Christ to you on this earth.

 

[Waggles]

2Corinthians 6:2
For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time;
behold, now is the day of salvation. [because tomorrow you may get hit by a bus, as we say down under]

Luke 9:59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
9:60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

1Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us,
what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?
4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

2Samuel 14:14 For we must needs die, and are as water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person:
yet doth he devise means, that his banished be not expelled from him.

Job 14:1 Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.
14:2 He comes forth like a flower, and is cut down: he flees also as a shadow, and continues not.

Proverbs 27:1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou know not what a day may bring forth.
27:2 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

James 1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
1:11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers the grass, and the flower thereof falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes:
so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
1:12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

1Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren,
see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever.
1:24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower thereof falls away:
1:25 But the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Isaiah 40:6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
40:7 The grass withers, the flower fades: because the spirit of the LORD blows upon it: surely the people is grass.
40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

 

[Brad Huber]

I rejoice for the day this body of mine expires, that I might be in an eternal ageless body. A body without any pain, a mind that has the wisdom of years, and the lack of physical needs that plague our bodies in this age we live in. It will be the rest so many of us so sorely need.

 

[KingJ]

I don't think Christians have to worry about death at all. Prophets came and went as they pleased :wink:. Many testimonies of Christians telling God they want to stay vs go to heaven. I believe God would want us here for as long as possible. Reaching people is the whole reason mankind is on earth. God needs / wants us to help Him with that.

As for good works, I agree with you that many have a warped idea of what is good. But don't believe we need to meet God's standard of good before we are judged by Him as good. We all fail at meeting God's standard. So what differentiates those chosen vs those not? It can only be a heart after God's. Hating evil vs not doing it Rom 7:15.

The problem today is that many, including Christians have been brainwashed that various types of evil are good. God is not dumb though. He considers all factors. He will hold onto the smallest glimmer of hope from any person. So, personally I am against telling people that good works are not good. Rather I would propose we encourage them to keep it up and do more. Their working brain will soon convict them of their own hypocrisy and inner self judgment ensues.

We condemn ourselves, God does not need to do it :smile:. Those who find themselves in hell will not be surprised. Rom 14:22 Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves.