Monday... I wonder what it would be like to not believe in an afterlife?

I don't think about things like this often but the writer of Psalm 16 must have been thinking about it.

In verses 9-11 (NLT) David, the writer of this Psalm says, "No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you [God] will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever."

Now that is a very good thing to realize, that we will be in God's presence and that we will live in the pleasures of living with Him forever. This life is just a test with a reward and the reward is what will happen to His followers in the afterlife. He says, "No wonder my heart is glad." There is so much more to come.

I know that the wonder of the unknown can cause distress but verses 9-10 in the the MESSAGE Paraphrase says, "I'm happy from the inside out, and from the outside in, I'm firmly formed. You canceled my ticket to hell - that's not my destination!" And then verse 11, "Now you've got my feet on the life path, all radiant from the shining of your face. Ever since you took my hand, I'm on the right way." And the NIV says, "You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand."

Listen, this is not heaven, to some it seems like hell. No the eternal pleasures of heaven are the reward for those who endure and live for God in the here and now. We want our ticket to hell to be canceled and He wants to grant us the the joy of His presence and the pleasures of living with Him forever.

This life that we are living is not the end, it is only the beginning. Verses 5-6 (MSG) says, "My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I'm your choice! You set me up with a house and a yard. And then you made me your heir."

Remember, this life is not the end it is only the beginning and He wants to make us His heir. "My choice is you, God, first and only. And now I find I'm your choice!" Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

Comments

Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do

Psalm 8:3-4 (NLT), "When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers - the moon and the stars you set in place - what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?" Friday... Yes, we need them. We really do. No, not the fact that I can go out my front door and look out at night at the marvels of the sky. I can do that and it is amazing and it takes my breath away each time I see it. Yes, that is a fact but the reality of who did that and the wisdom and the faith that I have to believe that and to marvel that the one who did that cares about me makes such a difference in how I live my life. Yes, God really does. That is so wonderful for us to believe. And that is why faith and wisdom are so important. Now whatever belief you have at how that marvel happened must also be believed through faith. And the sad thing to me is that more and more people have been taught that there is no God and therefore he did not have a h...

Wednesday... It didn't just happen.

Psalm 16;10 (NLT), "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." Wednesday... It didn't just happen. We are headed into a weekend of deep emotion. One that we really really love was killed and it didn't just happen. David in Psalm 16:10 (NLT) writes of this happening. He says about God, "For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave." We read over in the Gospels at the beginning of the New Testament in the Bible of the life of God's Son who came to earth to be our sacrifice so that our soul would not be left among the dead. Jesus came so that we wouldn't have to be buried at death and just left there. But he also shares that Jesus who was going to be killed as a sacrifice for our sins would not have to rot in a grave. David many generations before foretold this and that is what happened. Now that had to be a God thing. We can guess a lot about our future and we d...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but...

Tuesday... Each one of us see and describe what we are going through differently but... We each one have our own way of explaining what we are going through, don't we? Some of us are maximisers, other are minimizers and neither one is better. We each one are different and we see what we are facing differently but no matter what it is and how you see it and describe it, God can handle it! Now the writer of Psalm 46 shows the extremes. In verse 1 he states the basic reality and then he moves on into our fears and he maximizes them to make sure we really understand. Here is what Psalm 46:1-3 (NLT) says, "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!" So what do you fear? The Amplified Bible says verse 1 this way, "God is our refuge and strength [mighty and impenetrable], a very presen...

Todays Beginning

Search This Blog