Recently, two Godly people that I know have been called Home to be with the Lord.
One is a man who served his family and God faithfully for over 30 years. He was a career Engineer who served in our county for many years. He took his job very seriously and was excellent at it. My family and I have known his family for close to 20 years. We attended the same church for many of those years. His wife and daughter watched our daughter when she was a baby. We became close during that time and I will always hold a special place in my heart for these two women. The Engineer and his wife have 4 children who have now grown up and a couple of them are married and starting families of their own. This family exemplifies what it is like to truly walk with the Lord through some very challenging times in their lives. He experienced cancer 4 times in his life and during his last diagnosis, the Lord said “your assignment on earth is complete” and I know this precious, Godly man heard “well done My good and faithful servant”.
The other person was known in our community as “Alabaster’s Mom”. This lady always had a smile on her face. She was my daughter’s Girl Scout Troup leader and one of the best role model’s for the kids in our town. She loved her family fiercely and her Lord even more. She was active in her church and our community. She and her family enjoyed outdoor activities and she loved being on the PTO for the school. She helped with Girl Scout cookie sales and was Room Mom when her children were in Elementary School. She had a great sense of humor and could do just about anything a man could do. She worked hard for her family and friends – volunteering and giving her time wherever she was needed. If there was a field trip that myself or my husband couldn’t go on, we didn’t have to worry about our daughter. We knew she would be looked after because this lady was a chaperone. It is still unreal to me that she is no longer here in the flesh.
The Lord has taught me some lessons since calling these two precious people Home. God uses His Word and His children to pour eternal truths into us. Sometimes we get so attached to His messengers that when He calls them to Heaven, we allow the temporary loss to crush us instead of rejoicing in the fact that we will be reunited again. God has given us a gift in our faith -we can be spiritually-minded instead of earthly-minded. We can cling to the Jesus in all of us – not just the person in the flesh. Yes, we grieve the loss of precious people whom God has allowed us to know here on earth, but we should absolutely praise and thank Him that He used them to impact our lives. We all belong to Him – purchased by His precious Son’s blood. God calls His children to Heaven when their assignment on this earth is complete. The Spiritual deposits they make into our lives are eternal – the memories we make are special and precious but their worth is tied to the Eternal Word. Jesus is the Scarlet Thread of Redemption through Whom God the Father weaves together His tapestry of believers. We are the Church – the body of His Son.
When our assignment is complete, Faith is made sight. We will leave our flesh bodies behind and receive our spiritual bodies and dwell with the Lord for eternity. And, we will spend eternity with our brothers and sisters in Christ!
Mark 10:52
Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.
1 Thessalonians 4: 13-14
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.
Revelation 7:9-17
Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from? I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
“they are before the throne of God
and serve Him day and night in His temple;
and He Who sits on the throne
will shelter them with His presence.
‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their Shepherd;
‘He will lead them to springs of living water.’
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’
graftedbranch2014 