The Time Is Near

What do you say to a dying person? Dani’s mother, Barbara, has terminal cancer. It was diagnosed three years ago; we are in the final hours. The family is gathered. Phone calls are streaming in from caring loved ones. Barbara is now beyond communication. Anything that might bring comfort had to be said about two days ago. Here are some of the promises we reassured her with:

-Because you are adopted in Christ, paradise is yours.

-This process is not death; it is birth into real life.

-Remember when you were a little girl and you fell asleep in a strange place? Your father scooped your limp body into his arms and brought you home. In the morning, you woke to find your were no longer in that strange place, you were home. That is what is going to happen to you now. You will go to sleep and wake up at home with your Heavenly Father.

-"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." REV 21:3-4

There is a blessed peace surrounding this whole process. What a horror it would be if Barbara were not in Christ, or if we had to guess. She made a clear public commitment to Jesus two years ago through baptism. Please pray this experience will open closed doors for her loved ones. Barbara listed them by name as she spoke of her concern. What a fitting tribute to Barbara that she should bring several more into the kingdom as she travels home. “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." 1CO 15:54 Amen.