Three Empty Chairs

Wednesday Bible Study Small Group

            It’s a bit inconceivable that, over the past year, three of our beloved sisters in my Bible study small group have been ushered to heaven into the very Presence of Father God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

            Some might ask, “Did God not hear our cries for miracles – our pleas to heal these treasured friends according to His mighty power and their great faith?” With great confidence, I want to assure you that

Jesus heard…and Father God answered in a way that is

exceeding-abundantly-above-and-beyond-all-that-we-asked,

and far better than we can even imagine,

because for the children of God, our heavenly Father

 has an eternity to answer our requests!

Just stop for a moment, contemplate and consider

the miracle of God’s perfect healing and never-ending life with Him,

forever and ever!

Our wise and kind Almighty God, has completely healed Cynthia, Beverly, and Charlene according to their great faith, and we may rest in the truth of God’s Word, which teaches that…

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones!”

Psalm 116:15 NASB

For

“No one’s ever seen or heard anything like this, never so much as imagined anything quite like it – What God has (prepared) for those who love Him!”

1 Corinthians 2:9 The Message

“And He (has) wiped away every tear from (their) eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain…”

Revelation 21:4 NASB

So, at Cynthia’s request -

“Now I make known to you, the GOSPEL…

by which you are saved, if you hold fast the word…

that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,

and that He was buried,

and that He was raised on the third day…

and that He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve.

After that He appeared to more than five hundred (believers) at one time…

But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep…Behold I tell you a mystery;

we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,

in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet;

for the trumpet will sound, and

the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed!...

then will come about the saying that is written,

‘O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting…

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our

Lord Jesus Chist!

Therefore, (beloved of God), be steadfast, immovable, always

abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain

 in the Lord!”

1 Corinthians 15:1-6,20,51-58

Well done, Cynthia, Beverly, and Charlene! You fought the good fight, finished the course, kept the faith (2 Tim. 4:7) served the purposes of God in your own generation (Acts 13:36), and have entered into the joy of your Master (Matt. 25:23)!

On behalf of my beloved friends, I offer hope from:

L’Envoi to “The Seven Seas”

By Rudyard Kipling, 1892

When Earth's last picture is painted, and the tubes are twisted and dried



When the oldest colors have faded, and the youngest critic has died



We shall rest, and, faith we shall need it--lie down for an aeon or two,



'Til the Master of All Good Workmen shall set us to work anew!





And those that (God saved) will be happy: they shall sit in a golden chair;



They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comet's hair;



They shall find real saints to draw from--Magdalene, Peter and Paul;



They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!





And only the Master shall praise us, and only the Master shall blame;



And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame;



But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star,



Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They Are!