MEET YOU AT THE GATE! 11/13/11

MY BROTHER Lisle passed into Glory October 28th. He enter the gates of heaven, and I know you are asking; “How do you know that for sure?” I have learned to stand on the promises of God! We all are familiar with Proverbs 3:5 that says; “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not upon your own understanding.” I do not understand how it happens, nor do I understand when it happens but I do understand that I can trust in God’s word. To the thief on the cross, Jesus said; “today you will be with me in paradise.” Now I don’t how you explain that, but I see that thief, when he died on that cross, immediately in Paradise. With God as the judge, I can only trust in His Word!

LISLE’S DAUGHTER Robin, shared with some, that the last words Harriet had with Lisle were “wait for me at the Pearly gates! And when you see my Mom; tell her that you kept your promise to take care of me.” With my understanding of God’s words, Lisle and Harriet were in fellowship with the Savior. Lisle was prepared to enter into the same Paradise that the thief entered. Lisle knew where he was going and arrangements were made for Harriet to meet him there. WOW!

GRIEF is not a new thing to me. I imagine it is not a new thing for many of you! We grieve over lost jewelry; a pet, even gold fish. We grieve when we have lost weight to a certain extent; and we grieve a lot when we gain weight. Grief is common to man, but that is not to say, we get use to it. I have been grieving the loss of siblings since 1968. It never completely goes away, nor do we experience the same grief with each loss. One thing we can be assured of is; that in God, we are never alone!

LOVED ONES bring different elements into your life. A mother or father are different than brothers and sisters. Even Children bring to us what other’s cannot! Each loss is the worst, because with that loss, you lose something unique. With Lisle it was the fact that he was my eldest brother. He was the first; he was the beginning of our family of 14 children!

DID YOU KNOW, when Jesus was on the cross, he too knew where he was going. He was so sure of what he was doing that He let John take His place with regard to His mother. Did you know that He placed His mother in John’s care for the rest of her life? Both John and Mary had such trust in Jesus that this arrangement was concluded without question. It began at the cross; then they witnessed His resurrection from the grave by seeing Him in the upper room and walking among His people. They were one of the first to become a part of the new church and they remained together until Mary preceded John in death.

MANY PREACHERS ask the question; “When you leave this place this morning, do you know for sure, that if you should die today, you will go to heaven?” Then the preachers says; “Let’s bow your heads right now and pray this prayer and mean it with all your heart.” “Dear Lord, forgive me of my sins and save me now. I put my trust in you Jesus, and you only, as my Lord and my Savior, and I know You will take me to Heaven when I die. Amen!” The preacher concludes this portion of the service by saying; “For those of you who prayed this prayer and meant it, Jesus says you are saved!”

BE CAREFUL if you believe this is all there is to it! Be careful when you ignore what God’s Word says about believing, repenting,. confessing, being baptized, receiving forgiveness and receiving the Holy Spirit. You may fully believe that Christ can save you, but that is not enough. You must act on that faith by receiving Him as Lord and Savior through the process defined in God’s Word. Satan believes and shudders!

IN 1 CORINTHIANS 1:21 Paul says; “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe!” In Luke Jesus talks about hearing and responding to the message, that is heard. In Romans 10:17 Paul says; “Faith cometh by hearing the Word of God!” Do you accept the testimony of those who testify to having walked with the Master, and saw Him die and then live again? In Luke 13:3 Jesus said; “Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish!” Many suggest they are too wicked to repent. But recognizing your guilt is a giant step towards repentance. God included two more steps to salvation and they are confession and baptism. A public declaration of faith is important according to Romans 10:9-10, and in Act 2:38, we find that upon our baptism we receive forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit.

AS a baptized believer, all of the above steps must be continued throughout our lifetime, except for baptism, which is a one time event. I believe in what I read in God’s Word. I don’t read only what I believe. Daily I confess , “Jesus, is the Son of the Living God!” How about you? By Jane Ann Crenshaw 11/2/11