Skip to main content

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


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

Popular posts from this blog

Friday... We have this hope of expectancy.

Psalm 5:3 (NLT), "Listen to my voice in the morning Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly." Friday... We have this hope of expectancy. Now David found a great way to start his day. He says in Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT), "O LORD, hear me as I pray." And that is a great place to start. It really is. Morning sunrise He goes on, "Listen to my cry for help, my King, my God, for I pray to no one but you." And that is so important. We don't try to pump ourselves up by ourself. No, we pray to no one but you, God, my LORD, my King. Now this relationship with God is so, so very important. And then David says, "Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you" And that is so great. And then he says, "and wait expectantly." Yes, we have this hope of expectancy. We are experienced. That is what a relationship with God and a moment by moment connection does. It makes a difference in our daily wa...

Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true.

Psalm 12:6 (NLT), "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." Friday... Yes, we can know this to be true. Maybe this is what you want to say in this day in which we live. Psalm 12:1-2 (MSG) says, "Quick, I need your helping hand! The last decent person just went down, all the friends I depend on gone. Everyone talks in lie language; lies slide off their oily lips. They doubletalk with forked tongues." Do you ever feel that way?" Have you found that to be true? Well David the writer of this Psalm continues and says in verse 6 something to encourage us, to lift us up, to give us hope. Psalm 12:6 (NLT) says, "The Lord's promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over." The Message Paraphrase says verses 6-8 this way, "God's words are pure words, pure silver words refined seven times in the fires of his word-kiln, pure on earth as well as in heaven, God, keep ...

Wednesday... It is amazing what we can see.

Psalm 3:3a (NLT), "But you, O LORD, are a shield around me." Wednesday... It is amazing what we can see. And what we see does make such a difference in our day. Now David, he writer of Psalm 3 starts this Psalm this way. He says in verse 1 (NLT), "O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me." Yes, he is saying this to the LORD, the one he serves. Verse 2 says, "So many are saying, 'God will never rescue him!'" And that is so true with that outlook. So many of us get out of bed with that outlook every morning. It is amazing what we can see. Now I woke up this morning and eventually found myself outside on my couch with my Bible and I read this outlook in verses 1-2 from David. But I didn't stop there and neither did David. But that is an easy place to stop, isn't it? And it is true. Yes, David didn't stop there. Verses 3-4 says, "But you, O LORD, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high. I...