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HOSPICE FOR THE SOUL
The first time I came face-to-face with one who was departing this world was the day my
beloved grandmother passed on. My grandmother had been diagnosed with
cancer in 1979, and she passed on the following year. I wasn’t able to see her often at
that time because of my work responsibilities, but God granted her and me the
blessed gift of being together on the day she passed on to be with the Lord.
During
her last days, I was with her periodically and I noticed there were
times when
she expressed terror of death. God not only made a way for me to be with
my grandmother on the day she passed on, but He anointed me to speak
peace into her soul during the process. I never cease to thank God, when
I think about
it, that He granted me that special invaluable time with her during her
last hours here on this earth.
The reason my grandmother suffered some bouts of terror is that
she didn’t surrender her life to the Lord, until she understood she was departing this world.
She finally turned to the Lord with her whole heart in the end, and God was
truly merciful to her.
The Holy Word of God tells us,
“You, beloved, build up yourselves on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost” Jude 1:20.
As servants of the Most High God, we are taught in His Holy Word
to pray and build up our most holy faith. Those who spend a good portion
of their lives not living for God and not praying, have not had the opportunity to built up their holy faith.
My great grandmother was a saint of God, who prayed many years
for my grandmother to be saved. My
grandmother knew the truth, having heard it all her life, and in the end, she repented and surrendered her whole heart to the
Lord, because she knew full well that heaven, and hell, were very real places.
The last time I visited my grandmother, I knew she was leaving
for “home” that day. My mother didn't know this, but I was able to see it in the Spirit. I
tried to tell my mother, but she really didn’t believe me, so she continued
cleaning the house and she wasn’t with my grandmother when she passed on. I
stayed with my grandmother and the Lord anointed me to speak comforting words
to her, until she drew her last breath in this world. I am so grateful to Him for that.
I told my grandmother that she was not alone in what she was
going through, and I told her that the rest of us would soon follow her and we
would all be together in heaven shortly. This was very true; I did not lie to her. How long do you
suppose I have lived since my grandmother passed on in 1980 - compared to eternity? A
nanosecond! That’s right, even a 100-year lifespan is “but a vapor” compared to
ETERNITY.
The Holy Word of God tells us,
“You do not know what will happen tomorrow, for what is your
life? It is even a vapor, which appears for a little time and then vanishes
away” James 4:14.
Summary of Truth: You have about a nanosecond of existence here
to repent, tell the Lord you surrender your life to Him and that you accept His gift
of eternal life; or you will fulfill the
lusts of your flesh for about a nanosecond - compared to eternity - to “enjoy the
pleasures sin for a season” (Hebrews 11:25), but end up in hell forever thereafter. What a devastating, everlasting error!
First, it is imperative that the departing receive the Lord Jesus
Christ as their Savior - the giver of eternal life - if they don’t know Him already.
The Lord Jesus, Son of the Living God, paid the penalty of death for all of the sins of mankind at the cross of Calvary about
2,000 years ago, so all who will, can repent of their sins and receive His
sacrifice as the penalty paid for their sins. Once a person receives Christ,
knowing all of their sins are forgiven, this begins the peace process within their heart.
Second, the departing need to be told they are not alone in passing from this life. God is with them and He has removed the “sting
of death” (1 Corinthians 15:55-56), and they also need to hear that you will be
right behind them.
They really need to hear that they are not alone
as they
pass from this life. In all truth, you can comfort your loved one who is
leaving this world (if they have received Jesus as their Savior), by
telling them you are going
to be right behind them soon and there will be a great and joyful
reunion in heaven
(1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). Remind your loved one that all of our lives here on
this earth last only what can be considered a nanosecond - compared to eternity.
These words will comfort those departing if they have received Jesus
Christ as their Savior.
If someone refuses to repent and receive Jesus, as long as there is breath left in their body, we can plead with
them not to risk being lost forever, apart from God and their loved
ones, and ask them to receive Jesus as their Savior, while there is still time.
God has called me to provide “hospice for the soul” for those who are departing.
The Lord also graciously arranged for me to be at my
mother’s
home on the very day she suddenly fell from a brain aneurysm and passed
on
later that day in 1996. I will always be grateful to the Lord for
allowing me to be there that day, and God also gave me comforting words
to speak to
my mother, as she departed.
My mother was unconscious after she was rushed to the hospital, but testimonials
prove to us that, as long as there is life left in the body, hearing seems to be the last
sense to go. As she lay in the hospital bed, I told my mother how very much I
loved and appreciated her. Since my mother already knew the Lord, I just
reminded her at that critical time how we would forever be together with the Lord soon.
The same thing happened when my beloved son passed from
this life. I was with him and I spoke comforting words to him as he
departed in peace. Invaluable; I wouldn't trade anything for that precious time with my son. I told him that if the Lord took him, I would be right behind him and we would forever be together (2 Kings 22:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).
Summary of Truth: There is no time with God; there are no time constraints in heaven. Those of us who are going there, are actually already there, we just haven't experienced it in this dimension - yet!
These three, my grandmother, my mother and my son, left
this world in perfect peace. I worked in hospitals for years before I
worked in government. I also ministered to convalescing patients on the
weekends for more than 20 years. I have seen people depart who were
saved, as well as those who were not saved. There is no comparison.
The Holy Word of God says,
“Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life; no
man comes unto the Father, but by Me” John 14:6.
“Whosoever lives and believes in Me (Jesus) shall never die (eternal death). Do you
believe this?” John 11:26.
The shedding of this flesh is not real death. The people of God
actually never die.
The Holy Word of God tells us,
“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from
the body, and to be present with the Lord” 2 Corinthians 5:8.
Apostle Paul confirmed right here that to be absent from the
body is to be present with the Lord, if you are a child of God.
If we are saved when we shed off this mortal flesh, our spirit
and soul separate from the flesh and immediately appear in heaven.
“In the beginning was the Word (which is Jesus – John 1:14), and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God” John 1:1.
“The Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of joints and marrow...” Hebrews 4:12.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Word, and when He speaks, at
the departure of this flesh, His Word divides our soul and spirit from our
(flesh) joints and marrow, and the soul and spirit appear before God
immediately, but the flesh is left behind, temporarily, in the grave. Our souls
and spirit are very much alive with God, until the Resurrection Day (Day of Remembrance - Yom HaZikaron) for
the dead (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)!
Comfort your loved ones with these words.
If you aren’t saved, there’s no time to lose. Life is but a
nanosecond!
Hundreds of Bible prophecies have been fulfilled
and those remaining shall surely come to pass. Are you prepared to stand before
God and give an account of the life you have lived on this earth? If not,
salvation is only a prayer away. Please visit the How Can I Be Saved page - your eternal destiny
depends on it. God bless you.
