Remembering Lynette...thanks to a friend.

I was just thinking about the things that we rely upon as God’s children. Those things that can really make a difference in our hearts in any circumstance we face. Those things are the PROMISES of God and a LOVE for his Word that goes beyond just saying, “I love God’s Word” I recently read a quote that spoke loud to me. People Say I know the Word of God but what really matters is if we Know the God of the Word. That makes all the difference when taking in his promises to us because then it is about our personal relationship with him and he is the focus not our knowledge or experiences. No one can comfort except our God. When death comes upon people who are in Christ it is actually a reminder of OUR BLESSED ASSURANCE that we all WILL be RESURRECTED and will be with God and one another for eternity.

I Thessolaonians 4:13-18 talks about what will happen to her and us on that awesome day:

The Hope of the Resurrection
13 And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died[f] so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
15 We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died.[g] 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died[h] will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words.

That promise is what keeps hopelessness and despair from entering into our grief. Jesus wept when Lazarus died and we weep also but we look to that glorious day and therefore can now rejoice and celebrate the memorial of our loved ones who go into Christ presence before us…. Although we miss them terribly with tears we can truly celebrate that they are IN CHRIST or IN ETERNAL LIFE. They are not dead they are sleeping.

Psalm 139 is a powerful revealing of how much God loves your mother in law and is in control of her life from birth to death:

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me,[b] O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!

19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
20 They blaspheme you;
your enemies misuse your name.
21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Another thing is that the REALITY of our faith is realized and magnified when our loved ones pass and so its also an encouragement to us who are still on this earth to keep entrusting all of ourselves to Christ and to most importantly share our faith with others and to love one another

1 Peter 1:13-25

A Call to Holy Living
13 So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”[c]
17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.

21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters.[d] Love each other deeply with all your heart.[e]

23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say,

“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.”[f]

And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.

Just imagine if your mother-in-law did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. I can’t bare thinking about the eternal death of someone I know or dearly love that did not know Christ, because the Bible clearly reveals to humanity that God is perfectly Just and does not forgive a persons sin nature unless they have been washed clean by the atoning sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. God has provided no other way to be forgiven of sin. Praise God Your Mother-in-law is in the presence of Christ!!! I hope these three verses help and I’ll be praying that everyone will rejoice and celebrate all the grateness of your mother-in-laws life. Especially the one she is now experiencing in Christ's presence.