Seize the Moment – Day 412
Comfort in Grieving!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Monday, May 3.
As many of you know, I officiate and participate in a lot of funerals. It is a part of my calling to provide pastoral care for the congregation and as an outreach ministry to the community. What a joy it is to give people hope in a time of such grief and sorrow.
There is a powerful sentence about Abraham’s death in Genesis 25:8 that deeply struck me this morning, especially as a I prepare the message for Donna Jarvis’ funeral this afternoon: “Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people.”
God blessed Abraham with a long fruitful life and then he was gathered with the saints who had gone to be with God before him. What else could we ask for?
Psalm 116:15 proclaims, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones.”
Revelation 14:13 declares, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!”
One of the great gifts of our faith in Jesus Christ, is the peace God’s presence gives us in the face of life’s trials and temptations, to include the trial of dying and as we or our loved ones face death. The Lord has not only given us a heavenly peace, but also a certain assurance that we will join with Jesus in His resurrection; that the death of this body does not have the final word!
Jesus said in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Seize the moment and believe in Jesus Christ. Because He lives, you can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone.