I Will See You Again

Isn't is Awesome to know that when we die, or when a loved one who has accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior passes on...  We will see them again!  Heaven is a way better place than here on earth, and I can hardly wait to never feel pain, depression, hurt, anxiety, fear, etc... ever again!

This is what God tells us in His Word:

Luke 24:50-53, "Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting his hands to heaven, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. So they worshiped him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God."

Mark 13:26-27, "Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. And he will send out his angels to gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven."

 Acts 1:6-11, "So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, 'Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?'

He replied, 'The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'

After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him. As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday he will return from heaven in the same way you saw him go!'”

And my favorite!

John 14:1-7. "'Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.'

'No, we don’t know, Lord,' Thomas said. 'We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?'

Jesus told him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!'"

Isn't that great!?! God has room for us in heaven!  He has a place just for you and me! The death of a loved one is hard.  We miss them.  We don't want to give them up.  But I am encouraged that I will see them again in eternity!  There's nothing the devil can do about that.  

I will leave you with one more verse:

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4, "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.

A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.

A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance."

I will see you again!  It is so Awesome to know that when we die here on earth... "this is not where it ends!" Today's post was inspired by the recent loss of my grandma.  The video below is a tribute song to her. 

Blessings!
~ S*

Patience vs. Anger (Can they be related?)

As I was reading my Bible preparing for the Patience themed Bible study one week, I came across Proverbs fifteen.  In this chapter there are multiple verses on controlling or turning away anger.  I figure this isn't the typical way to go about studying patience, but these scriptures stood out to me.  For this is something I have been struggling with recently (also off and on in my past).  I used to get very angry when I was young.  I would get so mad at times, my entire face would become blood red and look like it was going to explode.  Since my younger years, I have become much more wise when it comes to controlling my temper.  But this does not mean I don't throw my control out the window at times.  The other day, for the first time in a while, I let my feelings run away with me; I acted very immaturely.

My patience that day was pretty much non-existent from the start.  Hormones could have had something to do with it, but I'm the one who spiraled out of control.  Do you ever have those days where it just seems to start off in an irritable way, which can lead to many impatient actions?

Proverbs 15 stuck out to me this particular week, and here are a few verses that I believe pertain to the topic we were discussing... (NLT)

Proverbs 15:1, "A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare."

Proverbs 15:18, "A hot-tempered person starts fights; a cool-tempered person stops them."

Proverbs 15:28,"The heart of the godly thinks carefully before speaking; the mouth of the wicked overflows with evil."

A lot of times, impatience turns into anger...  Frustration can be a form of impatience... We should work hard to develop our patience, so that we will not be easily angry or frustrated.

Patience Definition:

(Noun) The power or capacity to endure without complaint something difficult or disagreeable; forbearance; long-suffering.

(Adj.) Bearing pains or trials calmly or without complaint; steadfast despite opposition, difficulty, or adversity; not hasty or impetuous.

After reading the definition of Patience, I felt pretty infantile; not wise at all.  Do you think people are born with patient tendency? Or does everyone struggle with it/have to develop it in similar ways?  On a scale of one to ten how would you rate your development of patience?  

Blessings!

~S*

Cold Turkey

"'Everything is permissible'--but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible'--but not everything is constructive." -- 1 Corinthians 10:23 (NIV)

Have you ever had to quit doing something because God told you to?  Did you quit "cold turkey", or did you ease yourself out of it? Did you fight with God and say, "I don't want to give that up, or I don't want to stop doing such and such... Why God why???"  

A couple days ago my family decided to stop watching all of the crime shows on TV that we have been watching for multiple seasons...  This list, for me, was 8-10 shows long... 

What would be the hardest thing for you to give up right now? Facebook, sweets, You Tube, dating, smoking, drinking, watching sports, video games, __(you fill in the blank)__...  That's what it's like to give up these shows I have been watching.  I have had time to fall in love with the characters, I want to know how their stories are going to end, what am I going to do now that I don't have all this TV to watch, I've always used the evening's TV time as a way to relax and just forget about what is going on around me...  But God showed me last night in a dream that I was to stop...  Yesterday, when my family approached me with the idea, I was trying to decide how I was going to go about watching the shows I like with out them; now I am probably more on board than they are.

The verse at the top of the post has been one I have quoted to myself quite a few times the last few months... Aside from TV, I have also given up a few other things that I had been doing for many years... Every time I am tempted to do them this verse pops into my head, 1 Corinthians 10:23: "You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is good for you. You say, "I am allowed to do anything"--but not everything is beneficial." (NLT)  "“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up."(ESV)  "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify." (NAS)

It can be hard to keep popular things from becoming idols or front runners in our lives.  Being willing to lay some of your favorite things down, when God asks you to, is a great way to tell if you are making an idol out of them or not.

Click Here to visit my post on Idols.

What can we do to make better use of our time?  Have you given up something and found a ton of extra time that you didn't use to have?  What did you do with that extra time?  Let's try to use our extra time the way God wants us to. 

Blessings!

~ S*
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