Encouragement
Having personally benefited from intercessory prayers made in my behalf, I would be the last one to dispute the power of prayer. That being said, most of us have experienced receiving no, or not right now, answers to our prayer requests regarding the preservation, and or recovery, of the physical health of oneself or other people.
I have learned not to assume anything or to give others assurances of things that have not yet been made known. Such assumptions can jeopardize our testimony, and the credibility of the faith we profess, should the answer be “No.”
I have learned to pray that God’s will be done, and for those who will be dealing with the outcome, no matter what that outcome proves to be.
In doing so, I have placed the matter in God’s hands, with the knowledge and confidence that, no matter what the outcome may be, it IS what was best for ALL concerned.
Making prayer requests “in Jesus name” means to approach the throne of God with the authority and access that He has given to born again believers. Receiving the answers we desire to our prayer requests is subject to consistency with God’s will.
Jesus set the example in Matt. 26: 39 NASB2020 parentheses mine. “And He (Jesus) went a little beyond them (His disciples), and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup (the crucifixion) pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will (be done).”
Had God the Father granted Jesus’ prayer request, there would have been no atonement for the world’s sin debt, or means of salvation for the entire human race.
The prayer requests of an advancing disciple will be preceded with the phrase, “If it be your will… ,” with a Job 2: 10 response to the outcomes.
“Shall we actually accept good (things) from God, but not accept adversity (Job 2:10b NASB2020) parenthesis mine?”
Jesus’ departing words included a heart felt prayer for His present and future disciples (1); His persecutors (2); the logistical care for His widowed mother (3), and the mission (4) of the Church that would soon be established.
I share this with everyone, but especially with those who find themselves (or someone close to them) presently walking in the “valley of the shadow of death (Psalms 23: 4),” awaiting the outcome that is in the hands of God.
I pray that you will “fear no evil (Psalms 23: 4),” and that you will experience the Phil. 4: 7 type of peace that surpasses all understanding, while you await, and as you experience, the outcome.
Consider the knowledge of the likelihood of a forthcoming departure a blessing in disguise.
The testimony of a mature believer, communicated by the way he or she handles the threat, the process, or the inevitable reality of death, can be the most powerful and influential “witnessing for Christ” that you will ever have the privilege of making.
It's been my observation that most people pass away in the same frame of mind with which they lived most of their lives.
They either pass with suppressed fear, somehow hoping #1 there is a Heaven and #2 that that is where they are going, OR they pass with the peace and confidence of an advancing disciple, KNOWING where they are going (5).
There are death-bed, last-minute conversions.
But there is no guarantee that everyone will be in a conscious condition or in a frame of mind to respond to a presentation of the unadulterated Gospel Message, conveyed by another human being.
Medical professionals have different opinions as to the ability of persons in a coma or unconscious state to hear and to respond to external voices.
There are no other means, aside from responding to such a presentation, to obtain eternal life recorded in Scripture (6).
No one knows what (if any) private communication there may or may not be taking place between God and a soul just before he or she leaves the body and departs.
Could it be that this is how and when souls that never heard the Gospel, or heard but did not believe, are given the one and only or final opportunity to be saved, or is this just wishful thinking?
I would not count on being given any opportunity that does not have the support of Scripture.
If today, you hear the voice of God calling (when presented with the unadulterated Gospel Message), then TODAY is your day of salvation, IF you choose to believe (7).
If you choose not to believe, then TODAY could be the day you set the stage for eternal condemnation (8).
Furthermore, Scripture makes it clear what eternity has in store (9) for anyone who departs this world in the capacity of an unbeliever, not having been born again (10).
Life, after the death of the body, is NOT a matter of IF, but a matter of WHERE and HOW it WILL be experienced by every human soul that God creates.
Secular statistics indicate that 150,000 souls pass away from planet Earth every single day.
Many of these deaths are totally unexpected.
Furthermore, although every born again believer is assured of where he or she is going, that does not mean that all born again believers are going to “pass through the valley of the shadow of death” with the comfort and peace that will be the experience of a spiritually mature believer.
There are no level plateaus along the road to spiritual maturity. All born again believers are individually either moving upward and towards the goal of spiritual maturity, or are moving downward and away from that goal, receiving or forfeiting the intimacy, peace, comfort, and confidence that accompanies spiritual maturity.
In closing, live every day as if it was the last day and opportunity to share your departing message with someone else. Some say that no one is promised tomorrow.
I say, we all have a tomorrow, but not necessarily one to be experienced here on Earth.
End of Part 3 of 3
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(1) John 17 (2) Luke 23: 34 (3) John 19: 26, 27 (4) Matt. 28: 19, 20 (5) John 8: 32/Rom. 8: 1 (6) John 3: 16, 18/John 8: 24 (7) John 3: 16 (8) John 3: 18 (9) Rev. 20: 13, 15 (10) John 3: 5, 7
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