Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

April 24
Thursday


A SAILING SHIP

READ:
2 Corinthians 5:1-10
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We are confident, yes,
well pleased rather
to be absent from the
body and to be present
with the Lord.
__2 Corinthians
_____________________________________

Dorothy, an elderly woman, was near death. She loved the Lord and longed to be with Him. The nurse told her family that Dorothy would probably hold on until she could see her daughter, who was on her way to say goodbye. The nurse said, "It's as if Dorothy has one foot here and the other in heaven. She wants to take that last step soon."

That reminds me of the following beautiful description of dying by Henry van Dyke:

"I am standing at the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud, just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.... And just at the moment when someone at my side says: 'There, she is gone!' there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: 'Here she comes!' And that is dying."

Even more comforting for the loved ones of a believer who dies are the words of the apostle Paul: "If our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" (2 Cor. 5:1). We can rejoice in our sorrow knowing our departed loved ones are now present with the Lord (v.8). __Anne Cetas
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````````````````The death of people whom we love````````````````
```````````````````Brings sorrow and deep pain;`````````````````
`````````````````But if our loved ones know the Lord,``````````````
```````````````Our loss becomes their gain. __Sper````````````````
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Because Christ lives, death is not tragedy but triumph.

************Today's Bible Reading __ 2 Corinthians 5:1-10***********

1 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. 2 For
in this we groan, earnestly
desiring to be clothed with
our habitation which is
from heaven, 3 if indeed,
having been clothed, we
shall not be found naked.

4 For we who are in this
tent groan, being burdened,
not because we want to be
unclothed, but further
clothed, that mortality may
be swallowed up by life.

5 Now He who has prepared
us for this very thing is
God, who also has given us
the Spirit as a guarantee.

6 So we are always
confident, knowing that
while we are at home in the
body we are absent from
the Lord. 7 For we walk by
faith, not by sight. 8 We are
confident, yes, well pleased
rather to be absent from the
body and to be present with
the Lord. 9 Therefore we
make it our aim, whether
present or absent, to be well
pleasing to Him. 10 For we
must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ,
that each one may receive
the things done in the body,
according to what he has
done, whether good or bad.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

According to verse 10, every believer must appear before the
judgment seat (also known as the bema seat) of Christ to have his
life judged and rewarded (Rom. 14:12). Paul has already written
about such a believer's evaluation in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 and 4:1-
5. For unbelievers, whose names are not written in the book of life,
there is the terrible great white throne judgment (Rev. 20:11-15).
__Sim Kay Tee