The Transition...

[Dennis1209]

Am I unique in that the older I get, knowing that my days are far fewer, to want to get busier in service for the Lord? Knowing that the Rapture is nearer than ever motivates me even further. Sadly, that has not been my lifestyle for decades of my life.

The older I get, the more I realize the most important worthwhile things in life and the things that count. The folly of those temporal things that seemed to have once driven my life. As a latecomer (back slider), I squandered many opportunities away. Regrets, I have more than a few.

In the golden years of my life, thoughts I never imagined or pondered crept in. Because of sin, one thing everyone has in common and equally shares are that “dash” between two dates. Physical death is a one-of-a-kind personal experience we all share.

I cannot help but think most people have some level of fear or concern about that event. Belief, trust, and faith alleviate most of my fears, and I absolutely know for sure my eternal destination. Hopefully, it is only human nature to wonder about this transition.

2 Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

I have heard of two angels carrying our souls to be with the Lord forever. When our souls and spirits are separated from our deceased bodies if they are transported, how do they travel?

Thoughts about whether we will be immediately conscious after our last heartbeat and experience the travel and transition. Our Bible does not answer many questions we would like to know. That is where belief, faith, and trust are our foundations and wisdom:

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

These thoughts never crossed my mind in my younger years. Perhaps it is only me?

[Starise]

2 hours ago, Dennis1209 said:

I cannot help but think most people have some level of fear or concern about that event. Belief, trust, and faith alleviate most of my fears, and I absolutely know for sure my eternal destination. Hopefully, it is only human nature to wonder about this transition.

I go back and forth, but from my observation of others and in some of my own experiences, I can easily see how some people get to the point of saying, " Let's just get it over with. The sooner, the better". When a person is climbing mountain after mountain of medical issues, after awhile it begins to wear on a person. If you have been healthy all up until your older years, consider yourself blessed. For some people it is one battle right after the other and I have been close enough a few times to think how nice it would be just to be done with it. When all is well we like it here better. When it isn't it starts to look a lot more appealing to make that "transition". 

There are the sudden deaths and the slower deaths that just make it crystal clear over time that a tipping point is going to come. I believe the closer a person gets to that point the more prepared a believer is to go. For a lost person maybe not so much.

Another factor is how bad things are gradually beginning to get, even here in the US so far as people turning from God and accepting all of these lies. Most of us can see how much things have degenerated. Maybe this is also a good thing because it makes the conttrast so much more apparent that this is NOT where we want to eventually be. If everything was wonderful we might not see it the same.

Naturally older people are probably going to be thinking more about it. Younger people are looking to graduate, looking to marry, looking for a career etc etc. PLENTY of them die young too, but it isn't even a passing thought in the minds of most 20-30 somethings.

I have started to think to myself each morning, this is great I get to start another day. None of us knows if we will finish it, but at least we have a new beginning.

I got REALLY sick the other night to the point of breaking out in cold sweats and fever with horrible abdominal pain. It almost feels like I'm dying, and I say to myself, "Is this just another virus or is this the big one?" I was about an inch from passing out. I am driving on the road and someone begins to veer over into my lane. I ask myself, "Are they going to pull the car back or am I going to have to choose between a telephone pole or them? Maybe I am the only one that think like this sometimes.

When our number comes there really isn't much we can do but go along for the ride. Might as well rest in the knowledge we are saved, secured, signed, sealed and delivered to the Father. That gives me some comfort. When it happens I hope it goes fast and doesn't hurt much. My hunch is the faster it happens the less it will hurt.

[R. Hartono]

Just live and let live. Its the least thing we can do better than to live and let die.

 

Edited January 8, 2023 by R. Hartono

[Sower]

2 hours ago, Dennis1209 said:

These thoughts never crossed my mind in my younger years. Perhaps it is only me?

The slower and weaker, the less mobile, etc etc I get, there seems to be more time to contemplate the game clock, ticking..

I have already informed God I accept the when and the how, he takes me home.
Because I feel my emotions may become 'emotional' when it comes due. I'm confessing my lack of faith now.
I want to burn out, not rust out. God willing. I try to stay excited, but life keeps interfering.
My goal is not to be a burden, but with ability and health to assist those that are.        My mom's unspoken epitaph.

[Dennis1209]

11 hours ago, Starise said:

I go back and forth, but from my observation of others and in some of my own experiences, I can easily see how some people get to the point of saying, " Let's just get it over with. The sooner, the better". When a person is climbing mountain after mountain of medical issues, after awhile it begins to wear on a person. If you have been healthy all up until your older years, consider yourself blessed. For some people it is one battle right after the other and I have been close enough a few times to think how nice it would be just to be done with it. When all is well we like it here better. When it isn't it starts to look a lot more appealing to make that "transition". 

There are the sudden deaths and the slower deaths that just make it crystal clear over time that a tipping point is going to come. I believe the closer a person gets to that point the more prepared a believer is to go. For a lost person maybe not so much.

Another factor is how bad things are gradually beginning to get, even here in the US so far as people turning from God and accepting all of these lies. Most of us can see how much things have degenerated. Maybe this is also a good thing because it makes the conttrast so much more apparent that this is NOT where we want to eventually be. If everything was wonderful we might not see it the same.

Naturally older people are probably going to be thinking more about it. Younger people are looking to graduate, looking to marry, looking for a career etc etc. PLENTY of them die young too, but it isn't even a passing thought in the minds of most 20-30 somethings.

I have started to think to myself each morning, this is great I get to start another day. None of us knows if we will finish it, but at least we have a new beginning.

I got REALLY sick the other night to the point of breaking out in cold sweats and fever with horrible abdominal pain. It almost feels like I'm dying, and I say to myself, "Is this just another virus or is this the big one?" I was about an inch from passing out. I am driving on the road and someone begins to veer over into my lane. I ask myself, "Are they going to pull the car back or am I going to have to choose between a telephone pole or them? Maybe I am the only one that think like this sometimes.

When our number comes there really isn't much we can do but go along for the ride. Might as well rest in the knowledge we are saved, secured, signed, sealed and delivered to the Father. That gives me some comfort. When it happens I hope it goes fast and doesn't hurt much. My hunch is the faster it happens the less it will hurt.

I just noticed a fresh new look around here somewhere?

[Starise]

4 minutes ago, Dennis1209 said:

I just noticed a fresh new look around here somewhere?

Y'know I guess people have various reasons why they don't use their real pics. I like to be 'up front' and not have people feel as if I am hiding behind a pic. Yes, there are ways to take a pic and do things with it or find out things, but I really have nothing to hide.

I might take this down, but it's too late because our resident photoshopper has it now. Lord only knows what he will do with it lol.

Does anyone have pics of noob I can use?

[Ray12614]

11 hours ago, Sower said:

The slower and weaker, the less mobile, etc etc I get, there seems to be more time to contemplate the game clock, ticking..

I have already informed God I accept the when and the how, he takes me home.
Because I feel my emotions may become 'emotional' when it comes due. I'm confessing my lack of faith now.
I want to burn out, not rust out. God willing. I try to stay excited, but life keeps interfering.
My goal is not to be a burden, but with ability and health to assist those that are.        My mom's unspoken epitaph.

I love the quote " I want to burn out not rust out"  That is my hearts cry!!!

[Ray12614]

25 minutes ago, Starise said:

Y'know I guess people have various reasons why they don't use their real pics. I like to be 'up front' and not have people feel as if I am hiding behind a pic. Yes, there are ways to take a pic and do things with it or find out things, but I really have nothing to hide.

I might take this down, but it's too late because our resident photoshopper has it now. Lord only knows what he will do with it lol.

Does anyone have pics of noob I can use?

Very nice pic! Handsome dude . . . Much better than Chewbacca . . . It may inspire me to do the same . . . but . . . I keep getting the camera warning . . . "Do you want to turn the SU feature off ? ? ?  I found out later SU stands for 'Suppress Ugly' . . . LOL

[Ray12614]

No, Dennis . . . you are not alone on this . . . at least 3 of us here (myself included) must be in our 60-70 year old range, and we appear to share your ideas . . . 

Although, you guys are 'Oversight' people, and I am . . .  just a lowly 'commenter' LOL

I personally am realizing just how fragile life is, and being a cancer survivor (or Over comer by God's mercy), I do periodically think of how many days I have left.

Regarding 'regrets' . . . we all have them . . . for not living our earlier lives in a godly way . . . BUT . . . I am reminded of Jesus' parrable of the laborers, and how those who started laboring later in the day still got the rewarded by the Master.

So . . . each day we live, lets start fresh and 'press on' and only remember much of our past as an example of what we should not do, and pit falls that we should avoid. I want to hear 'well done good and faithful servant' when I appear before my Master.

At least that is my thoughts on this early Sunday morning . . . 

Grace and Peace . . . Ray . . . 

 

[Amigo42]

I think that people fear the unknown, but in reality billions of people have died and all 8 billion people on this planet will have died in the next 130 years and a new crop of people will exist.  With something so common dying is like drinking a cup of water.  It literally is just a transition.  Real death does not appear to exist in the spirit realm.  Human life gives us the illusion of death which is all for the experience sort of like a thrill.  It seems odd, but if you're an eternal soul and want to experience what's it like to have limitation and struggle, then coming here to earth is a way to experience that.  

Near Death Experience studies shine a lot of light on this topic.  There are several common traits of people on their death beds.  Suddenly these people start to see angels or deceased relatives in their hospital bedrooms.  Sometimes, these people are told that their relatives will bring them home soon and surely enough within hours or days the person leaves the physical world. 

People who've had NDEs common state that they leave their bodies and can see themselves on the operating table or hospital room.  Sometimes they leave this realm entirely and go on a trip to space or other universes.  These people report that when they leave their bodies, they feel a shedding of human concerns and connections.  They report that they reconnect with knowledge of who they truly are before incarnating into this world.  They report immense love from God and other souls including deceased loved ones in heaven.  In this realm, it is a place of peace, love, and joy where their spirits live and exist.  Some or most undergo a life review which they report is not so much God judging them but rather them judging how they did during their time on earth.  

As much as I don't like this concept, I have to report what is stated by a substantial number of those who've returned, which is that they have a remembrance that they made this transition or trip several times as a soul.  I don't like the concept of reincarnation, but it's reported from even Christians who didn't believe in it that they remembered or been shown the number of times they have come home.  In other words, it's almost as if this planet is like a Massive Multiplayer Video game that allows non-physical beings to experience things that they could otherwise not experience in the spirit realm or heaven.