Ecclesiastes 7:1-2 "1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth. 2 It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart."
I doubt that I could count the number of times, over the years after becoming born again, I thought about my homegoing. The day that I leave this life and find myself in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, where I will spend eternity.
All the cares and trials of this life are gone, experiencing perfect love with the Lord Jesus Christ in a place I cannot even imagine, which has been promised to me because of His sacrifice on that cruel cross. I have a touch of this sense in this new and flawless life because He lives in me, but it is not fully realized until He takes me from this body and carries me to my eternal home.
Several of my Facebook friends have left this life and gone on to glory; I miss them but know one day soon I will meet them for the first time at my home going.
Proverbs 10:7: "The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot. And yet I sense excitement that one day I will see them. I have not met them in this life, but I will know them when I see them for the first time in eternity.
Philippians 1:21-23 "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. So what shall I choose? I do not know. I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.
A part of me envies those I love who have passed from this life into the glory of God's presence. They are already where I want to be, looking into the Face of Jesus Christ, knowing blessed perfection and love beyond measure.
1 Peter 1:3-12 "1 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully,
11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.
12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look."
There is no greater joy than knowing that God has a purpose in all that we encounter and endure in this life, not only for us but for all those in our lives who love Him as we do.
1 Peter 1:23-25 "…23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, 25 but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you."
Our hope and joy is beyond human understanding and inexpressible; too great or intense to put into words. Only those who have been transformed by Christ into a new creation can understand this, and yet anyone who wants to place their trust in Christ can have it.
May those who are trusting in themselves, proud of how good they think they are, repent of their vanity, knowing that they will never have what it takes to save themselves without Christ.
It is Christ Who saves without our works; it is He Who keeps us, guides us, and eventually takes us home when He decides.
Ephesians 2:9-10 …9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life."
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