What Is Death?

So I have been doing some thinking since my last post and I have decided that I left it unfinished, that it was harsh, and that in places I stated things wrong...perhaps I should even not have posted it because it does sound so offensive "It's not God's fault. He knows how you feel because not only did His Son die, but millions of His children die all the time"..that makes it sound like I'm saying that it could be our fault that GOD---our CREATOR blames us for His broken heart, and in some cases He may but generally speaking He does not. He blames His arch nemesis Satan (which by the way means "adversary" or even "enemy"). Not so much us. We are His and we always will be...we need only accept His gift of grace..that we could never deserve.

That being said I wanted to write about what death really is. I wanted to shed some light on death.

Is death punishment?  Is death simply when the soul leaves the body? Or is there more to it?
There is more to it...alot more. According to the Christian Scriptures, death is appointed to all people. We do not know when we will die, nor do we know how. All we know is that we will, one day, die. Our bodies will then be buried and decay. But is this punishment? Is this the death God told Adam about in the Garden of Eden? The answer to that question is "no".

We know from Scripture that God told Adam that he would die at that moment if he ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But we also know that Adam did not die at that point. On the contrary he lived to be far over 900 years old according to Genesis. So alright he didn't die then. Does that mean that death indeed existed before the Fall of Man? Yes. Indeed it did. If it didn't, imagine all the overpopulation we would have on this planet (not to mention Adam is implied to have known what death was). So if that's the case, and Adam lived on even though God said he would die, and death existed before the fall, what death am I talking about?

This death is the death of the soul. The soul is immortal so it cannot die. Contradictory statements? On the surface, yes. But if we look deeper, we can see God's message. The death of the soul is spoken of all throughout Scripture. This is the punishment God spoke of to Adam, and what Paul spoke of in the letter to the Romans (6:23) when he said the wages of sin is death. This death is actually judgement. This death is "hell". This death is "the lake of fire". This death is in all actuality, the eternal separation of the human soul and body from God--not just from the Person of God, but from all that He provides: light, food, friends, family, air, love, beauty, and the list goes on. In this death...this punishment...it will indeed be like a worm that never dies, an eternal pit of white hot fire, or never ending loneliness, or everlasting darkness.

But how can we be sure we won't have to face this death? The answer has been said billions of times throughout the centuries. Accept God's free gift of salvation...God's righteousness (his declaration of your sinlessness). And then live as He has asked you to live (in other words, stop living in a way that dishonors God). So many people say that you have to stop sinning. Geez if it meant that we would go to "hell" every time we sinned, that would mean that God's "free gift of grace" would be useless, according to the definition of grace, which is forgiveness even before you sin. However we still must repent of that sin and do our best to not do it anymore.

Alright so we have an answer to what real death is, but what about the babies who die? So many think that they are somehow are being punished for some sin...how could they sin? They are innocent children who have no understanding of anything except that they exist.
No these little ones are not being punished for anything. So why do they die? Why does God allow such things to happen? I assure you that this is nothing against the child or the parent or anyone else. God is the creator of life. God owns all things...that means that that child is His as well...and so are you. If a child dies, we may not understand God's motive, but we must simply trust that that child is happy and is in the ever loving arms of God, no suffering as s/he was here, and we will see that little one again...It is, in all cases, a matter of trust in the Creator.

Is It God's Fault?

Lately I have heard people say that they hate God, or they are angry at Him because there are those little ones of His that are dying, or abused, or otherwise hurt. Today I read a comment from a mother who is very angry, and honestly I cannot say that I blame her in the least for her anger, at God, saying that although we pray for her son, no medication, or surgery, or prayer seems to be working for her child. Her little one is dying and doctors are saying that there is nothing more they can do for him, and if they did do anything it would only prolong the inevitable, and may even make his condition worse. This mother is, in my honest opinion, right to be angry. I would be if it were my son, and I am honestly angry because my child has, albeit relatively very minor, an infirmity of her own that could end up causing her to become blind if we don't put her through what we have to put her through. I am very angry about this, but in comparison this is nothing because her life is not threatened in any way.
But is any of this to be blamed on God? What is He doing? Why is He allowing this to happen? Why is this child dying and He seems to be simply sitting there doing nothing, not healing this little one, or even helping him? Did his mom do something wrong? Did his dad? This child is a baby so obviously he could never have done anything wrong. So why is this child being seemingly punished? Why is he dying?
Perhaps instead of asking why this is happening...perhaps instead of blaming God for this, maybe we should remember that God understands exactly what this mom is going through. Think about this: We are all HIS children and so many of us reject Him. When we die without Him, we can never again have His sustenance, provision, or any other thing He gladly gives us in this life. It is because of Him that we live, and when we die without Him, He has eternally lost us. Think of the millions of people who have died and had to be separated from Him. This on top of the fact that God's own Son also died so He understands what this mom is going through far better than even she understands it. She has a chance to see her son again if she has faith in Him. There are those children of His that He (and we) will never see again. Perhaps we should remember this fact when He "allows" a child to die---which in fact He does NOT allow. Remember also we have an adversary, who is God's worst enemy and whenever a child of His is hurting in any way, that adversary is laughing.

That being said, I know this sounds harsh...and I ask your forgiveness for that, but my point is that God understands the pain these parents feel far better than these parents can fathom. Put your faith in Him. He understands.

Bad Things and Good People

The age old question "How could a loving God allow such heinous things happen to good people?" has been asked and asked and asked...

The question itself is flawed...by who's standard are we judging what is "good" that we are good people? Murderers? Rapists? People like Hitler or Nero? Indeed these are evil people. But who is to say that we won't get some wild hair on someone and murder someone, or go nuts and rape someone? Who is to say that our president won't become a leader like Hitler? The fact is that every person on this earth has the potential to commit such acts...it is a hard truth to face, but truth nonetheless. So instead of asking how a loving God can allow bad things to happen to good people, perhaps we should ask "How can a good and perfect God who knows no sin, allow people who have this evil potential to live?" Or better yet, if you truly want to focus on the happenings and the reason, why not ask "What is God's plan in this horrid crime against me?"

Look at Job. His whole life was stripped out from under him...he lost his family, his crops, his cattle, his home, his land, and his health...
Job thought it good to question God...of course he wanted answers. He had done nothing to deserve any of that. However, God questioned him instead. The point in God questioning him was not to tell him that he didn't have a right to question him but to humble him and make him understand that God is in control, and knows well what He is doing, and if we allow ourselves to grow in the pain, we will come out shining.

Then there is Joseph...his own brothers sold him into slavery for 30 pieces of silver, then he was wrongfully accused of raping his master's wife, and jailed. Finally God revealed His plan...He saved all the middle east and his own family through his brother's evil acts against him, and Israel was able to grow into a great people in Egypt.

The fact of the matter in all of God's allowing of evil is that although we don't always know why or understand, the point is always for our growth, and if we try to see it that way, much like exercise hurts but greatly benefits, we will come out shining like a diamond.

It's not God's job

A while back a friend, turned his back on God. Why? Because he said he didn't feel like God was there for him.

He said that because God wasn't there for him, then he didn't see any point in continually asking a God who apparently didn't care about him, to help him and give him what he needed to make it through each day.

My question is this:

Why do so many people say that they are leaving Him like that?

Yes, God said He wouldn't leave or forsake us, and that He would supply our needs, but He also said "if you'll obey My commands".

He is not our servant. He will sustain us, yes, but He will not bow to us, or hearken to us just cause we ask Him to. His job is simply to be our Master and to sustain what He created. Simple as that. It is OUR job to serve HIM.

If anyone has any right to "leave because he isn't there" it's Him. How many of us slap Him in the face with our disobedience? How many times has He taken it with Grace and forgiven us, and still blessed us when we didn't deserve it?

Why should God even care about us? We are evil, and completely foolish and lazy sheep. We run and we let our pride take over.

Yet God is so patient and loving that He forgives us.

He will bless us with riches beyond our imagination...but we must serve Him obediently. He rewards the obedient servant, and chastises the stray. That is how we grow.

I think it is foolish arrogance to think that God is cool with our running away "cause He isn't there". It's not His job to be there. It's OURS.

When we sin, We have lost our faith. I am a sinner. God has saved me, but I keep doing the things I shouldn't. God, please forgive me again. If I'm worthy.

What are we grateful for? Are we thankful for our lives? What about our eternal lives? Or God's gift of salvation? His shepherds are still waiting at the Well.

My Jesus I love You.