Daily Devotionals
Daily Devotional: Psalms 116:15-19
Ps 116:15-19
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. 16 O LORD, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant; you have freed me from my chains. 17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the LORD. 18 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the house of the LORD--in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.
1 Thess 4:16-18
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
There seems to be built into each of us the fear of death. This may be a part of our survival instincts or it may be from some other reason. Since we have never died and have never talked with anyone who has, we naturally have a fear of the unknown. There are so many questions for which we have no answers regarding death and what happens when we die. Another part of death is leaving our many friends and our families whom we love and that is not a pleasant thought.
As we study scripture, we begin to see that death is leaving this world but it is really more of an introduction to life. Every part of our lives has problems and hardships. We face sickness and pain while in this body. But when we leave this body we are given a new spiritual body that does not have to deal with any of these things. There will be no more sadness, no sickness, no pain and no death.
While we leave others here on earth when we face death, we will be reunited with them in eternity. But even greater than this is we will be in the very presence of our God, face to face with Jesus our Savior and come to really know the Spirit who has done so much in us and for us. It is no wonder that the Lord considers it a precious thing when one of his saints dies here. Praise the Lord.
O Lord God, my heavenly Father, help me keep my eyes focused on you, on Jesus and on the things above. Use me in this world to help others live for you. Give me a heart of compassion, mercy and love so I will be kind and considerate of others in all I do and say. I am so thankful for my family and for those who are dear to me. I ask you to be with the leaders of our country and those of other nations of the world. Be with local leaders as well. Guide them so that we may live in peace. Give me wisdom and forgive me when I sin. I pray in the name of Jesus.
Robert
