Jesus said in John 14:2, “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” and Revelation 21:4 says, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
Doesn't that sound like an awesome new life? Revelation 22:5 talks more about Heaven stating, “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”
I don’t know about you, but those are some pretty powerful promises to me! I was always raised as a Christian but did not go beyond believing until about a year ago. So before I started living for Jesus, I never understood how amazing being a Christian could be. It is not just a practiced religion, it is a personal relationship with our God. We get to accept Jesus Christ who died out of love for us, into our hearts, and get to know Him. We get to walk daily with the Lord and have unconditional love from Him. We get to dig into His word and explore all of His amazing promises whenever we want to. We are completely forgiven of all of our sins. Jesus took all the guilt and debt away from us. One of my all time favorite promises of the Truth is Romans 8:28, “And we know that ALL things work together for good, to those who love God and live according to His purpose.” So everything is for our good no matter how painful it may seem at the time! God knows what He is doing! He is in control and will not let us down!! On top of ALL that we get the ultimate promise. I’m sure you know the famous John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Eternal life -- dictionary.com defines the word “eternal” in this way... “Being without beginning or end; existing outside of time. Continuing without interruption; perpetual. Forever true or changeless.” By having Jesus in our hearts, we get that life.
I am extremely blessed because I got to hear stories from Gloria Lee about her husband Earl, and from my dad, the corny one over there, Dale, about his father Clyde. They told me stories I will cherish forever. The night before Earl died he had his arms raised up in the air toward Heaven, and he stated that angels were coming to take Him home. Gloria Lee says he showed no fear about dying what so ever. My father also said that his father, Clyde, had his arms lifted toward heaven, smiling sweetly, and that he knew he left to be with Jesus. That is powerful. There is nothing better then knowing you are going to be with your Creator, your Savior, and your loved ones someday. I believe that our goal should be to be more like Earl and Clyde -- to be children of God with no fear. We should all strive to have our hearts as ready as possible to meet Jesus when our time comes. Both Earl and Clyde appeared to be strong men of God who were ready to leave this earth and go to their heavenly homes, and I admire that more then anything and feel so blessed to be a part of the Tincher family. There are just so many other inspiring stories I have heard such as about Junior, Doc, and other Tinchers’ who were inspirational and were or are ready to meet their God.
In order to stay in close communion with God and to enjoy the peace and love he wishes to give us, we have to stay in the word daily, talk to our heavenly Father daily in prayer, and fellowship with other believers. Christ is everything. Christ is the only thing that can truly resolve family problems on a permanent basis. Christ is the only thing that is unconditionally forgiving, loving, eternal, merciful, completely satisfying, completely uplifting. The list just goes on… Christ is it. Nothing else matters. I am learning that more and more everyday. Nothing else brings me the same peace that Jesus promises in John 7:37, "He who believes in me, as the scriptures have said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." As that water flows from us, we wait for our time to go Home. I encourage us to grow our faith everyday and be as ready as we can be -- without fear like Earl and Clyde and all the other wonderful Tinchers’ and family.
I can’t wait to see you all when we get to our Home!
For Additional Messages by Sarah, see
http://www.consultwebs.com/daletincher/sarah/tabernacle/tabernacle_youth_service-1-29-06.htm