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

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Todays Beginning

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