Let’s begin this with the statement, “No one enjoys losing a family member or close friend.” I know, I have lost animals that I consider family and it wrenches the heart like nothing else. I lost my mom and dad, aunts and uncles and like everyone else. It kills my heart to even think about it. We already know, that older ones in our lives will die and someday, we will also die. We all know that to be born here on earth means one day we will die; that everyone ever born will die one day. It is a fact of life. Having stated the obvious, I wonder why so many fall apart when another passes on?

Close friends are no different, it always tears our hearts apart. We spend thousands and thousands of dollars to “keep them alive” then we turn around and spend way too much just to bury them. We spend way too much on flowers and burn the midnight oil for our brains to come up with the appropriate eulogy. We spend a great deal of time at funerals saying how much they meant to us, and yet wouldn’t it have been better to tell that person while they are still alive?

This whole thing really smells to me. And believe me when I say, it is BIG business, billions of dollars every year! And how many of the people are not able to afford such grand goodbyes? On the surface, it is said to be the best way to end one’s life. Behind the curtain though, hearts are breaking and sadness prevails. Is this really the worst that can happen to another, to die on this earth?

James 4:14: “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”

Psalm 144:4 “Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.”

Two verses from the Word of God that say the exact same thing, that our lives are short and one day we will die. From the Lords lips to our ears! After we die, what difference is there between a pine box and a gold covered casket? I do not mean to be crass or difficult, but it is the truth to ask a question like this.

Some people who were close to the deceased never regain their composure; they simply fall apart and then stay that way. Why? The pastors tell us, “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.” Is no one thinking of this at that time taking it to heart, understanding what we know is truth?

When Jesus Christ  was crucified his family was there were there and died and they mourned, along with the 12 disciples. Yet, we know if Jesus Christ had not died for us, we would never see heaven, so we praise HIM for His death on that Roman cross. Actually we praise Him for His sacrifice of His life to reclaim us.

My question is more with what we see today, the death of Michael Brown, of Robin Williams, the Ebola victims and more. Yet the world continues in their wars as if no one has learned a single thing from all the previous wars! ISIS and Boko Haram continue their killing sprees as if they have no idea of what they are doing, not only to themselves but all the others affected by their actions. And what’s more it will never end and the Bible tells us in prophecy, that the killing will continue. The entire way all these people go about everything, is almost a direct contradiction.

My ancestors thought owning land was like trying to own air! Like someone is running around saying ,“Hey YOU! Stop breathing over there, that’s my air!” When you stop and think about it and according to the Word of God, no owns anything here; you did not make it! Even your money comes from trees and plants that don’t belong to you, they belong to God. God created your body, in the womb of your mother, that makes your body His. Yet we run around and use it and abuse it, knowing it is the temple of the Lord God!

Stop and think again, “My body is mine, I can do whatever I want with it!” And the truthful answer is…”No it ain’t yours to do whatever with!” God created your body, your soul and your spirit; it belongs to God. You as a person are just along for the ride. Please don’t be so foolish about this. And one day soon, the Lord is going to require you to give it all up to Him…again! Please understand, WHERE you end-up is totally up to YOU!

Since we are on this subject, let’s understand something here. It matters little whether you die from a disease, an accident, a bomb or a bullet or even beheaded. Dead is simply Dead. Each of us will have our day to deal with that. What everyone does not understand yet is this: Death came along with sin. It is sin that creates and sustains wars, drunk driving, overdoses, suicides and homicides!

Romans 7:17-20: “Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”

As the verse above states, it is the sin in me that causes my death. The point here is this: The blood that Jesus Christ shed on that Roman cross…is the only thing that can wash that sin away…forever. That Sin is forgiven and washed away. The fact that sin has been in our lives is the reason for our death, but being forgiven of our sin and having it washed away by HIS blood…our lives do not end…with the death of our bodies!

Your “senses” work by virtue of your spirit, which is within you. When that body dies, there is nothing anyone can do to change where you go to in Eternity…except Jesus Christ…who IS God! No one can say enough prayers over your body to get you into heaven.

Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Please people, read the verse above and then re-read it again, it is the absolute truth and it answers every question concerning our sin and the grace of the Lord God! There is NO greater example, especially in light of what we are talking about here.

John 15:1-5: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

This Scripture is the ABSOLUTE Truth. Our lives whether saved to Jesus Christ or not have never belonged to you or me or anyone else. You can’t even have a thought without God allowing it or not! And we must remember that a thought is also called an “Intent of the heart.”

God Almighty knows every single thought you have ever had and a thought is always followed by action. Therefore a thought or intent of the heart is sin even before we act on it! The entire reason we must always be on guard of what we think and ask the Lord to bless us with His thoughts and not our own.

Everything we see around us, speaks of our own desires to be in control of ourselves! That is impossible, except the Lord God allows it. Thus, when we sin, we have already thought it all out and we stand guilty before the Lord. If the blood of Jesus Christ does not cover our sin, if we have never given our lives over to God, then we stand condemned ultimately to the lake of fire. Does this make any sense to you?

As we descend into the days just before the Rapture, we NEED to be acutely aware of our standing according to God and His Holy Word. Why did God gave us His Holy Word—the Bible? Know this and remember it:

Matthew 7:13-14: ‘Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and FEW there be that find it.”

There’s that little three letter word, FEW. That will scare the life out of a believer, or it should. Failure to abide by what the Holy Word of God says, is to commit your eternal existence to the lake of fire! And somehow, everyone thinks this life is full of disappointment and drudgery, think again my friend!

I wonder if you have ever considered, your next breath of air? Few of us ever do, yet what would happen if the combined elements of our air…changed? I know that many of us have been fishing and we know that fish need fresh running water or sea water to survive.

Yet when we catch the fish and we bring it on-board what is happening to the fish? It suffocates, because it uses gills to exchange the carbon dioxide for oxygen in the water; they do not have lungs as we do, thus they die. It is the exact same thing for you and me, if we cannot swim and fall into deep water.

This reminds me of the Flood of Noah. All those living outside the ark died in the flood, from suffocation. We were never meant to have any water in our lungs, so the water is a dire friend, even though we depend on it so very much to continue living. Very few ever consider that water and air are so important to each of us and yet, if they are in the wrong place with us, they can kill us.

For example, a small bubble of oxygen can block an artery in the heart and we could die from that. It is called an coronary arterial embolism. The same is true if we get water in our lungs, we drown. How strange is it that we live in such close proximity to water and air and they can be so necessary for us to live and yet in the wrong places, we die from them.

Now if you go and state this to a scientist, they understand it and will tell you that this is living evolution…wrong. The Lord God Almighty designed our bodies in a specific manner, as well as the planet we live on. Our bodies and this earth were designed to be together. One is not able to survive without the other, everything is accurately balanced for the other. For example, have you have ever considered the medication we use?

It must be in miniscule amounts, whether in pill form or intravenously; it is very small. The reason is for this is taken from how small our enzymes and proteins are and they affect us every minute of every day thus our medications must be likewise. Depending on the patient’s condition, too much or too little would have dire effects, possibly catastrophic. Too much or too little oxygen could kill us. As you see, the balances are very critical for our survival.

My point here is this: There is no way to expect “random change” or “evolution” to accomplish these exacting needs. God alone holds the balance of our existence in His capable hands. Understanding these things in our lives, points directly to our God. And we are able to read these things in His Holy Word the Bible;

John 15:4-5: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

Genesis 1 tells of God creating this planet and everything in it; yet how often do we take that chapter for granted and miss the details that we rely on every second of our lives? The verses above, tell us that Almighty God did indeed create everything and every single detail, thus we survive for a period of time here on earth.

It would be folly to consider anything or anyone other than God to be holding everything in place so very intricately balanced at the same time. Although we humans are able to perform many things, it still requires that someone else did so in the first place.

We would never be able to provide a patient with life giving oxygen, if it were not in the air to begin with and continuously replenished…for us! These are continuous blessings of God to each of us, whether we are saved to Jesus Christ or not.

Isaiah 66:2: “For all those things hath mine handmade, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”

Matthew 5:44-45: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”

I do not want to hear how wonderful people think they are, I want to hear how wonderful and content a person is, by virtue of the Lord God Almighty. We live each and every day, by virtue of the love of our Lord God Almighty. We continue to exist because HE is waiting for each of us to come to HIM and follow HIM in every way there is.

Our lives are not our own to do with however we please, we were created by God and we must come to Him if indeed we want to exist for the rest of eternity. The verses above declare His power and ability and there is none other like Him; we live and survive to Honor HIM…not ourselves.

We are created in three parts; body, soul and spirit and they are not interchangeable; they are not to separate unless the Lord God allows it. We owe the Lord God everything we have because it belonged to Him, before He gave it to us and this includes our bodies. We are to remember that our bodies are the temple of the Lord God and we must be sure we care for them as such.

Have you ever looked at someone who has been a drunk all their lives? There are aspects of their bodies that are not correct—that is the result of this particular sin in their lives. Purposefully damaging their temple of God. The same can be said of the drug users, the prostitutes. Anyone who directly misuses their bodies are defying the Law of God and it shows.

The one thing we are never able to do, if we abuse the body, is to run away from it. Sin stains our soul and spirit and only the blood of Jesus Christ can change that and that my friends is TRUTH.

Isaiah 1:18: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

I have nothing else to add, the verses above say it all and they come from the lips of God Almighty; they are absolute truth. We are placed here on this little planet for a reason by God and that is to learn of Him and to Follow Him…that’s it! All the clothing and money and riches mean nothing. Or have you never gone to a cemetery and looked around? Have you noticed any building of big houses there, or how many banks are there waiting for the influx of wealth? Come on people, let’s get down to brass tacks. If any of these things were important to God, don’t you think they would be in the coffin with the deceased? Only one things passes on to the Father in Heaven— your spirit!

John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

So now you have it from God’s own lips, God is a Spirit! Now if God is a Spirit, what need is there for wealth or clothing or cars or a house, whatever? Those things are of the physical…NOT the spiritual. That is why there are no coffers of gold and precious stones, in a cemetery! What need is there for gold coffins or for satin inside, when all that is going to happen there is decaying of the body decomposition, that’s it!

If there is no life in a body, there is no need for prayers, those should have been spoken between that person and the Lord God…prior to death. There is no need for all the wailing and crying, I understand you will miss that person, but all of that is useless. Trust me friends, none of that will bring them back to life.

And to think, all of this has been going on for, well, since the first death. Have you not figured it out yet, “To do the exact same thing over and over again…and expecting a different outcome” is the definition of insanity. This would indicate we are all insane. The ONLY person to ever bring back the dead was Jesus Christ…and that is a FACT.

If you are expecting to go to heaven, without the blood of Jesus Christ covering your sin, you are wasting your breath! And we all know how important our breath is to us, or maybe you need to re-read this article from the beginning. Better yet…read the Holy Word of God—the Bible!