Saturday, December 28, 2013

Facing the End .. Overcoming the FEAR of DEATH

Satan has caused many saints of God to allow the sting of death to return. He has deceived many into clinging to our mortal shells without Godly reason. Yes, we want to live, we can't do much for the Kingdom when we are dead, but we will all die. There is no escape. It is, was and always will be appointed unto man ONCE to die. There is a second death. It is the death of the lost. To the pagan, those lost for eternity, death does and should hold fear. I will not address those things that they fear. There is a way to enter into eternal life. It's visible at nearly every football game. I am more concerned with Christians who fear death needlessly. We need to know with confidence how that last breath happens and means.

What happens when we die? We have confusion; it's the second time we go thru such radical change. Change is confusing. All change is perceived as loss. Birth was confusing. Darkness to light, Warmth to something new. We cried out. We were confused in this transition. Uncertain. Death has the same effect. As we lay on our deathbed, sometimes we face this with fear, amazement, a metaphysical roller coaster ride. I understand that as Steve Jobs lay dying, just before he took his last breath, his eyes opened and he said, WOW!. I don't know what that means but I am sure WOW fits. Some withdraw further and further. Sleeping more and more. Recognizing the end and accepting it without struggle. Some do struggle right up till the end in fear. It's understandable. Yet there is a way to understand death and overcome the fear, the sting.

Is there pain in death? Yes, momentarily. Particularly in a gruesome death. A gunshot, stabbing, bad car accident, execution, torture, a painful death by drowning, suffocation, heart attack or hanging. I mention this because I most people imagine they are going to die lying on a bed with friends and family surrounding them. That is not always the case. What of these more difficult unexpected situations dying in pain. To deny pain is to deny the reality of death. There is however good news, pain is the last ditch effort of our flesh to keep us here.

Those who have gone thru this and come back say the pain was momentary, brief, intense and then erased from all memory. Like having a really bad tooth pulled. Pain for a moment and then no more pain. Mortality is not sloughed off easily. This flesh doesn't want to become an empty shell to be buried, burned or abandoned. It wants to hold on as long as it can. But like a teenager who becomes such a pain in the neck that a parent is glad when they leave, so too our flesh causes us more and more discomfort as we age until staying in it is no longer acceptable. It's very much the same syndrome and if we must learn to accept it as normal. Not that there isn't regret and pain in separation from those we love. That's part of it too. Yet to the Christian, it is those loved ones left behind that suffer. Once death happens for the Believer all pain is gone, all memories that would cause grief dissipates. The sentiment is I'll see you soon. An eternal perspective offers that.

If we could grasp the temporary nature in dying we might not enter into it as full of trepidation as we do. Much of the heroics we commit ourselves to in the false hope that we might live forever in our bodies (or longer anyway) are simply fleshly vain attempts to postpone that which will take us all. It's not a sin. Doing battle with disease is part of life. Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead. Yet all died. It's that eventual reality that must be recognized and received as we step from time into eternity.

We come into a new reality as a believer who dies in Christ. No pain. No grief. No fear. In my next post I will tell you what happens right AFTER you die. And what it's really like on the other side of the veil between time and eternity. Most people don't understand this. If we can.. it will change us forever and we will live in victory fearless and purposed.

It's Fathers intent for you to know this as he has downloaded this to many prophets who are speaking the same thing right now.

1 comment:

Vincenzo said...

Will you cover resurrection at some point? I understand in this fallen world, death happens. There is, however, another side of the story. Those who've gone on to the other side will return to reclaim their bodies, regardless in what manner they died. The manner of resurrection may differ from person to person, but we know, all will be raised.