Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.” NJKV

 

God ask Job: “Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?” Job 38:17 NKJV

There are two doors remaining that we will look at today. The door to the shadow of death and the open door to heaven.

Revelation 4:1 “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.’” NJKV

Everyone at some time in their life will contemplate what heaven will be like. We are intrigued by the description of heaven with precious metals, jewel and then of course getting to walk with Jesus and see God. (Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”  But we all shy away from the door to shadow of death.  As believers, we know that death is simply the laying down of the tent, this earthly house,(2 Corinthians 5:1) and taking up our new habitation in our eternal home. “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked…. Vs. 6 So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.  For we walk by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”

Death seems unnatural to us.  Our bodies are designed to live..eternally. We do everything we can to live. For me, I believe it is the process of dying that we fight.  Our bodies begin to fail us and we long to stay with loved ones.  But we see what we believe to be our “true self” fading away.  I have reached the age where I have watched as friends, parents and other loved ones pass through the door of the shadow of death. It is hard, we do groan and grieve because of the separation from them.   I Thessalonians 4:13 “ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.”

Depend upon it, your dying hour will be the best hour you have ever known! Your last moment will be your richest moment, better than the day of your birth will be the day of your death. It shall be the beginning of heaven, the rising of a sun that shall go no more down forever! – C.H. Spurgeon

While we are here, we have a purpose, a God-given purpose.  What we do here will affect what we will do in heaven. In Erwin Lutzer book, Your Eternal Reward:Triumph and Tears at the Judgment Seat of Christ”, he writes,

“The thesis of this book is that the person you are today will determine the rewards you will receive tomorrow. .. In other words, you life here will impact your life there forever.” Erwin W Lutzer.

That statement should impact our life. It is a reminder that one day this world we know now will pass away and only what we do for Christ will last.

Often we say that Christ will meet us on the other side. That is true, of course, but misleading. Let us never forget that He walks with us on this side of the curtain and then guides us through the opening. We will meet Him there, because we have met Him here. – Erwin Lutzer

One  final verse for today: “A good name is better than precious perfume; likewise the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth.” Ecclesiastes 7:1    What you leave as your legacy in life will be seen at the end of your life.

If today, you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord please make that decision today. We only have today, yesterday is gone and we are not promised tomorrow. How to know Jesus personally.  If you make that decision, please let us a comment.  The comments are read and we will pray for you and celebrate with you.  

Jesus looks forward to seeing us work for His kingdom here but He also longs for, prepares for and awaits eagerly to bring us to our heavenly home.

 

“New” Jerusalem – The Hoppers

https://youtu.be/Ksmrhh5X97g  “New” Jerusalem

 

https://youtu.be/ZUnDKD1NMH4  The Golden City

 

Waiting and watching

Freda Reynolds