Life After Death

Today I got some exciting news
Was about to reach for the phone to share with you
Before the number I dialed
It sunk in that I could no longer hear your voice or see your smile
Your being gone, has nearly silenced my phone
Will I end up all alone?
Is there life after death?

For Christian souls, after life on earth they live with the Lord
But how about life on earth after someone’s gone?
Life changes as survivors have to go on
But it’s scary and sad when life after death is unknown

When it happened before God filled the void
As new friendships and relationships were formed
But that was in the days of youth
When strangers more easily befriended you
And there was work and plenty of activities to do

But now will there be life after death?
Yes? Why?
God hasn’t died
He’s still able to provide
Jesus said Those who mourn will be comforted (Matthew 5:4)
Beyond that, I’ll continue to pray
Knowing God will change the situation or adjust my ways
Insight
When someone you have a close relationship with dies, it leaves a big, lonely void. You wonder what will life be like now. Will you continue to be sad and lonely or will God fill the void with new life and relationships. None of us know for sure how God will work it out. And while our lives may have changed, God is still great and compassionate. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

Idle Mind

I know God has forgiven
But that doesn’t stop my mind from drifting to former living
It replays the words and actions I wish I could take back
Before the love of God in my heart I didn’t know how to act
Former thoughts make me forget Jesus died for my sins
And replay the un forgiveness of people again and again

So why does the mind regress?
Idleness,
As one church member expressed, and then confessed
That when idle, his mind drifts back to things he regrets

The mind needs to look forward for positive things to do
Else, negative thoughts it will assume
Philippians 4:8 says think on things positive
Especially when your sins God did forgive.

Insight
There are many scriptures in the Bible about God forgiving our sins. Jesus even died for our sins. Yet the memory of us committing sins remains. And sometimes the mind brings up the sins especially when the mind is not focused on anything. You can’t take back what you’ve done. You can’t make people forgive. And sometimes you can’t restore broken relationships. But once you’ve sincerely asked God to forgive you; you need to forgive yourself and focus your mind on positive things. God not only forgives sins, He can use a former sinner for ministerial purposes. I think about Moses, David and Saul (Paul). They were not perfect, yet God went on to use them in mighty ways.

Decades Old Prayer

It was an intercession prayer, but it directly impacted me
Not only did I pray about it, but I told God how to answer it
In my mind there was only one way to fix the problem
And I prayed very, very, hard He would adhere to me

But days went by, which turned into months, then years
Over a decade later problem was still there
I got tired of praying for God to answer prayer my way

Did I give up on thinking a God would answer this prayer?
I didn’t give up, but I stopped praying constantly about it
All the while I was praying to God to provide one way, I saw Him provide in other ways
It reminded of the scripture “ I never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread” (Psalm 37:5)

God caused prosperity in other areas to exceed the lack
He blessed exceedingly and unexpectedly
So much, that I really didn’t need Him to answer the decades old prayer
BUT HE DID

Just got news a few days ago
It will be about 20 years exactly
God has answered the prayer better than I expected
And He fixed it so, that the problem will never occur again
God is faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9).

Insight
In Isaiah 49:13-16 the Lord says He will never forget us. In times when our prayers go unanswered, we may think the God doesn’t hear us or He may not care to answer. But He hears and has compassion for us, and may provide in other ways until He answers our specific prayer.