A GREAT REUNION! 9/14/14

MOST OF US have been to a reunion. Sometimes it is like pulling teeth to get there, but when we do it is always a good time. At High school reunions we look around and say; "WOW these are all old people!" But we have a good time anyway. With family reunions there is always so many to visit with and so much to do, sometimes it can go on forever. Reunions are exhausting but when you lay your head down at night, you can’t help but be filled with contentment and joy!

MY BROTHER’S wife Clara, passed away this morning. It was not unexpected but then again, no one was ready. When a loved one goes into that ‘long good night’ we are not prepared for our earthly relationship to be over. Our minds and bodies go into a grieving mode that it is not fully prepared for. We say, she went home. In the Christian world we also say; "This world is not my home, I’m just passing through!" When she left this place and walked into paradise she was immediately in the presence of God! How amazing is that! Would we have wanted her to miss that today? Maybe tomorrow would have been better, but why not today!

SO MANY of my loved ones are already there and when they saw Clara I can imagine their faces. I can imagine their joy; I can imagine how pleased the Savior is to see her there!  That’s what a great reunion is all about! There are some choruses to a couple of old songs that have crossed my mind. "When the Saints go marching in; When the Saints go marching in; oh how I want to be in that number, when the Saints go marching in." Not sure if there are parades in heaven, but just to be counted in the number of the Saints that are there, living their eternal life with all those other Saints; it has to be glorious!

THE OTHER song that keeps buzzing around in my mind is; "When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be, when we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory!"   Our victory in Jesus is our goal and when we reach our goals a lot of celebrations should take place! Meanwhile here, our hearts ache! God brings us comforts through family and friends and I appreciate that. But I also find comfort through the scriptures that say; "Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have compassion on His afflicted."

THE CHORUS of another old song says; "O victory in Jesus, my Savior forever, He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood; He loved me ere I knew Him and all my love is due Him, He plunged me into victory, beneath the cleansing flood."    Without the cross; without His sacrifice; without His redeeming blood, we would just go to sleep and know nothing!  But that is because "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law." 1 Corinthians 15:56     Many would just say; "Lets eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die!"

BUT BECAUSE Jesus experienced the cross; because His blood was shed "not all will sleep but all will be changed." In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. When Jesus comes again, all will be magnified. However, this happens today when a Saint leaves this place. "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" 1 Corinthians 15:57

BEING with family today as we comforted one another, Jesus was glorified. All the while I kept repeating to myself something I had heard years ago. A popular singer told about his father dying earlier in the week. He said; "What a fantastic afternoon Charlie had!" Well, come to think of it; "What a fantastic morning Clara had!" We can only praise God for His love for us and for His Son who has made all things possible in Him! We praise Him in the morning and we praise Him at noon; we praise Him in the evening and we pray that He will come soon!
By Jane Ann Crenshaw 9/13/14