I do try to eat twice daily, 11 am & 6 pm, while skimming devotionals for pertinent future blog inspirational material, frequently getting inspired “out of my gourd,” so to speak; terminology from Hesston College days perhaps? I’m personally processing some rather heavy stuff with a very tight schedule for the next 30 days, such that I was seriously considering while driving to my 9 AM to see our accountant, thinking that I should really shut down the blog for the next 60 days, and give “everyone” a break!
Doug’s advice to us this morning was the word “simplify” and that I too sensed from the Lord, as i had just been processing taking a blog break. Understand, not only was our auction a trifle disappointing, but the way we added additional properties into the mix over the years, now exempt from our home tax exemption was not helpful either, for now it raises our tax liability. But you know what, our family was so very blessed those 41 years on those 10 acres in a community of paradise, both spawning and maturing each of us for our life’s destinies, that now I can only say, so what? After 41 years of tax breaks by running a business at home, and getting those breaks when we really needed them, how dare I quibble now over a possible tax liability of a good used car, or two, depending on your tastes? Again, it really is all about perspective; HIS, NOT ours!
Moving on, I spent 5 hours Tuesday PM in Aultman ER with my former neighbor of 17 years, Jeff, who had brain surgery in April and was initially given 1-5 years to live. After nearly a month in both Canton Aultman and the Cleveland Clinic, he was sent home with 4 different seizure meds that worked well the first month plus+, thru his first 30 day round of chemo & radiation, but for the past 4-5 days, he has fallen twice, with multiple seizures daily. So, after 10 hrs. in the ER, he was sent back to the Clinic by 11 pm for evaluation and med tweaking. Pray for Jeff’s healing and his newly found faith to thrive as he is a frightened 54 yr. old man with way too much baggage to process without Jesus.
Now, onto the “nugget” devotional I found while eating brunch and considering my tax liability, Day 152, from Robert J Morgan’s “All to Jesus” A Year of Devotions.
“For just as in Adam ALL will die. So also in Christ ALL will be made alive. I Cor 15:22
Dr. Bob Hill was a dear friend of mine and a member of my staff at Donelson Fellowship. He was 72 years old, has his degree in gerontology from Oxford, and had longevity in his genes. We assumed he’d live be a hundred years old.
When his mother passed away at 93 years, Bob drove to St. Louis to help conduct the funeral, and he opened the service with these words: We want to welcome everyone here to this memorial service for our mother. This is not a time for grieving but a time for celebration.”
Then Bob slumped to the floor and died of a massive cerebral hemorrhage.
I miss Bob terribly, but I often think of the incredible poignancy of his last words: “This is not a time for grieving, but a time for celebration!”
First Corinthians 15 is the “Resurrection Chapter” of the Bible. Apparently, some of the Corinthians had questions about the resurrection, and Paul tackled them in this glorious chapter. He began by reviewing the historical facts of Christ’s resurrection. Then he suggested that the bodily resurrection of Jesus provides the PROOF, POWER, & PATTERN for our own resurrections.
As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive, “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet” (v 52).
Don’t worry about dying, and don’t over-grieve over loved ones in heaven. Christ arose, and all is well. It isn’t a day for grieving, but celebration!
BOTTOM LINE:
And as I have heard it explained over the years, we as His redeemed empowered & transformed believers, are already in a spiritual sense, living resurrected lives here on earth, merely awaiting our final transitioning. So, what’s the big deal about death & taxes? Really now?
Claim your birthright! Live your destiny in Him! Now! And none of this “someday I’ll….”
Always remember Dr. Bob Hill’s last sentence! Perspective at its best!