My 99 year old aunt jumped out of bed and into the arms of Jesus on Sunday. My mom was with her. At one point my aunt's O2 level dropped very low so the nurses increased her mixture. My aunt said, "I guess He was not ready for me." My mom replied, "The paint must not be dry." I don't know how much time had passed, but some time later my aunt ripped off the oxygen mask, kicked off her blankets and took her last breath. My mom said, "The paint must be dry."
I have heard many stories of Christians who have commented about seeing Jesus just before leaving their mortal body behind. I have heard many stories of purely joyful expressions appearing on Christian's faces before they enter eternity. Conversely when I hear of non-believers passing away I frequently hear about an expression of fear. I imagine that my aunt was jumping out of bed to run and jump into the arms of Jesus!! What a way to pass from this life. There was NO fear. She anticipated the new life that would begin on the other side of death!!
What will greet you on the other side of death's door? Do you expect Jesus to be waiting for you to take you to your forever home in heaven - that mansion He has built especially for you? Or do you fear death not knowing what it holds for you? Not knowing where you will spend eternity? Or even if there is life after death? Knowing that you can die with great joy instead of fear is easy.
Romans 3:10 - As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.
Romas 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Romans 5:12 - Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for the all have sinned.
These verses tell us that not one man has ever lived a life without sin. "Sin" is a term used in archery it means "to miss the mark". You might ask, "Who set the mark?" God, our creator, established "the mark". He is holy and righteous and cannot allow unholiness and unrighteous in His presence. Since every man in not righteous and has sinned, man is eternally separated from God. However, God loves man and wants every human to spend eternity with Him. How can an unholy and unrighteous man be allowed into God's holy presence?
Since only God can define what is holy and righteous and what is not holy or righteous, only God has the right and authority to say how man can be "reconciled" to Him. That is an accounting term which means "to bring accounts in agreement" or "to bring accounts into balance". Does that mean that at the end of our life all our good deeds are put on one side of the balance scales and all our sins are put on the other and if the scales are balanced we get to heaven? NO WAY!!! For several reasons. First, we would still have those unholy and unrighteous deeds and we would be bringing them into heaven with us. Those are what separated us from God in the first place. That is not logical. We need some way to get rid of them, and we cannot do that on our own. Second, that is not the plan God gave us.
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
This verse tells us that while sin separates us from God by eternal death, God has provided a "gift" through Jesus Christ that will give us eternal life. Have you ever been given a gift? Did you have to do anything to earn that gift? Did you have to buy it? Of course not! If you did then it would not have been a gift!! There is only one thing you have to do to receive the benefits of a gift that has been offered to you - take it as your own! Open it and enjoy it! How marvelous is that?! God is saying that the only thing you have to do to enjoy eternal life with Him is to accept His gift, His plan for being reconciled back to Him.
Romans 5:8-9 - But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Romans 10:11-12 - That if thou shalt confess with they mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in this heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
God loves us so much that even though we have sin and are therefore separated from Him, Jesus Christ came, lived a perfectly sinless life, and chose to shed His life's blood on a cruel cross just so that we could be "justified" and saved from the wrath sin brought upon us (separation for God). "Justified" means to declare innocent or guiltless. It means that once a person has accepted God's plan for reconciliation He declares them innocent and guiltless. The simple act of believing that God in the form of Jesus Christ came to Earth, died, and rose again I am "justified - just as if I had never sinned". My sin is gone. The only entry to my account is the righteousness obtained through the blood of Jesus Christ. My account now balances with God's standard of righteousness therefore I am 'reconciled' to Him!
You can have your account reconciled to God's standard of righteous too. All you have to do is tell Him you accept His gift! If you do please send me a message or comment. I would love to know about your decision. Life will change for you. You will have new desires. I would love to help you find a place that will help you learn more about God, Jesus and the Bible.
That took a different turn than I expected when I wrote my title! So now...
What You May Find in a 99 Year Old's House -
My mom and I were looking for the original copy of her Will, valuables which we did not want left in an unoccupied house, and pictures for her funeral service. While sifting through her buffet drawers I found a number of pictures we will be using and quite a few table linens - embroidered, crocheted and this
I was a bit surprised to say the least. I guess I should say that it is a 100% plastic doily that is about 4 inches across. Just about the right size for a coaster. I grabbed all I could find. There were two that were loose and then there was this
An un-opened package of them. I wonder if anyone knows more about them.
I will be going back through the drawers with more care to make sure there are no tatted lace. There was one piece that had me about ready to get the magnifying glass out to make sure it was crocheted. I believe it is, but I think I will get the magnifying glass out to make sure there are no knots!! Happy tatting everyone.
One of the rooms had three boxes of moth balls in it and had been closed up for as long as I can remember. The pictured room (let's call it the Bedding Room) has not officially been tackled, but I had to peak at the sewing and craft supplies that could be found without tripping over things. Of course I am hoping to find some tatting shuttles - still hoping!! I did find a few balls of size 100 tatting thread, so there is still hope!! Here is the "Moth Ball" room about 3/4 done. The bed was COVERED about two feet deep with clothes and the foot board could not be seen. The pile on the left is mostly towels and wash cloths which we saved for another day. The plastic shelving in the back was piled with clothes and shoes. They now are holding some nick knacks, a few tote bags and some perfume gift sets. Here is a picture of the bed as it is now. The space between the bed and the wall was FULL of boxes.
To the left is a Pelouze Hem gauge. The back is marked with "Patent Pending". The inventor filed for a patent of the gauge in early 1927 the patent was granted in 1929. The hem gauge is at least 87 years old.
