LIFE...
after this life
It is
NOT for this LIFE (this world)
ONLY that we have been given
HOPE...
See
again the beautiful Bible verses, quoted below, concerning
"the life to come"...
A "tablet"
from the on-going INTERNET BOOK, "The Doctor's
Terrific Tablets",
(
http://www.terrific-tabs.com
)
by John
N. Todd III, M. D.
(link)
The web-link to this
"tablet" is: http://www.terrific-tabs.com/print_not_this_life.htm
To send a "live" link to a friend, copy and paste
this web-link in an email message.
|
"Doctored"
-- 9/00; 5/01; 11/01; 12/01; 3/02; 8/02; 9/02; 10/02; 2/03;
7/03; 8/03; 12/03; 2/04; 5/04; 6/04; 8/04; 2/05; 3/05;
10/05; 7/06; 10/06; 1/07; 6/14/07;
6/30/07
CLICK
HERE to go to the "FRONT
PAGE"
of "The
Doctor's Terrific Tablets"
CLICK
HERE for ALPHABETICAL
INDEX of
this entire
WEBSITE
CLICK
HERE to EMAIL
your thoughts to the author
1 Corinthians 15:
19 (NEB) IF
it is for this life only that the
Christ has given us hope -- we, of all
men, are most to be pitied.
2 Corinthians 4:
16 (NRSV) So we do not lose heart. Even though our
outer nature is wasting
away, our inner nature is BEING
renewed -- day by day. 17 For this slight
momentary affliction is
PREPARING us for an
ETERNAL weight of glory, beyond all
measure, 18 because we look not
at what can be seen, but at what cannot
be seen -- for what can be seen is
temporary.... but what cannot be seen
is ETERNAL.
And....
SEE numerous other Bible
references quoted below.
THIS
"tablet" is so
important!
To
me, the scriptures that are quoted
below reveal an "explanation" for many of the human
miseries that befall most of us -- in
this life, in this world. All of us
face death, either soon -- or later.
Each of us will have disappointments -- and losses,
and hurts. Dear-and-loving persons in our lives will depart
from our existence -- or we ourselves will be
taken away from them.... leaving them with an
empty sadness. Illnesses occur; accidents happen;
injuries cripple. Wars -- and threats
of wars -- abound. "Natural disasters" (also called
"acts of God") are widespread, and frequent. (See
link Mortalness;
we are born ALIVE.... and born to
DIE.)
Because these "happenings" appear in
everyone's life, it becomes reasonable (perhaps) to
believe and "accept" that these puzzling and
saddening occurrences in our own lives may indeed
have been intentionally placed ("ordained")
into our existence -- presumably as a part of our
sovereign Creator's plan for our edification, and
preparation, and development -- in order to
accomplish what God wants us to
be (or to become).... perhaps
for now, in this life -- or
maybe for "the life-to-come".... the life
beyond this life. (See link:
"Good"
and "Evil" -- both from God.)
Otherwise, in our earthly human-thinking -- if
we (you and I) have no other evident
"explanation" -- it becomes very difficult for our
human-minds to conjure-up a reason for events
and circumstances that a "loving"
God has allowed to enter the lives
of each of us.... and it becomes
disturbing for us "earthlings" to attempt to
decipher a divine-motive (or a "human"
explanation) for the misery induced by
the universal hurts and sadnesses of this
"world".... the "misery" that ALL
"Godspeople" are called upon to endure -- in
our present existence.
My spiritual "feeling" is that there is,
indeed, a purpose and plan in everything that
happens in the life of each of God's
people
(link) -- each individual "Godsperson".
Because I have learned to believe that the truth
of God is expressed and divulged in
God's Bible, I find comfort and
satisfaction and "explanation" in the
scriptural references that are quoted below. These
quotations tell me that "it is not for this world
only" that God allows those happenings in our
lives -- events that we perceive as pain and
sadness.... or "punishment". I say that these
events are all a part of a
"development-process", for each of us,
individually -- as we are "shaped" for God's plan and
His intention.
As for me, after having enumerated all the
above remarks about the "unpleasant"
molding-and-building-events in our lives, I certainly do not
want to overlook -- or fail to mention -- the
countless beautiful, and sweet, and
soft, and comforting "happenings" (blessings)
in our lives.... the gorgeous people, and the
amazing events, and the miraculous God-given
accomplishments that unfold and become apparent....
almost every day, during our earthly existence. These
splendid "gifts" likewise come from
God.... and these lovely, God-ly
blessings also "operate" in our lives -- to mold and
develop us, and to encourage us -- for the design
that God has ordained -- in
advance.
Read aloud the following Biblical quotations,
so that you may "see" and "hear" what God says on this
subject:
1
Corinthians 15: 19 (NEB)
If
it is for this life only that the
Christ has given us hope -- we, of all men, are
most to be pitied.
SAME (NRSV) If
for this life only we
have hoped in Christ -- we are of all
people most to be pitied.
Romans 12: 2 (NEB) Adapt yourselves no longer to
the pattern of this present
world; but let yor minds be re-made, and
your whole nature thus transformed.
Then you will be able to discern the will of
God -- and to know what is good, and
acceptable, and perfect.
Same (NRSV) Do not be conformed to this
world; but be transformed by the
renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is
the will of God -- what is good and acceptable and
perfect.
Hebrews 11: 13 All of these died in faith without
having received the promises; but from a
distance, they saw and greeted them. They
confessed that they were strangers and
foreigners on the EARTH, 14 for
people who speak in this way make it clear that
they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had
been thinking of the land that they had left
behind, they would have had opportunity to return.
16 But as it is, they desire a better
country -- that is, a HEAVENLY one.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their
God. Indeed, He has prepared a
city for them.
Hebrews 13: 14 (NRSV) For here, we have no
lasting city; but we are looking for the
city that is to come.
John 6: 27 (Jesus speaking) Do not
work for food that spoils, but for food that
endures to eternal
life -- which the Son of Man will give you.
On Him, God the Father has placed His seal of
approval.
Romans 8: 18 (NRSV)
I consider
that the sufferings of this present
time are not worth comparing with the glory
about to be revealed to us. 19 For
the creation waits with eager longing for the
revealing of the children of God; 20 for the
creation was subjected to futility, not of its own
will, but by the will of the One who
subjected it, in hope that the creation
itself will be set free from its
bondage to decay.... and will obtain the freedom of the
glory of the children of God. (See link Children
of God.)
Psalm 16: 9 (Moffatt) And so my heart and soul
rejoice. My body rests secure. 10 For never
will He let me sink to death.... nor will He leave
His loyal one to the grave. He will reveal the
path to life.... to the full joy of His
presence.... to the bliss of being close to Him,
forever.
Collosians 3: 1 (NRSV) So if you have been raised
with Christ, seek the things that
are above, where Christ is, seated
at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on
things that are above.... not on things
that are on earth.
Philippians 3: 20 (NRSV) Our citizenship is
in heaven, and it is from there
that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
21 He will transform the body of our
humiliation.... that it may be conformed to the
body of His glory, by the power that also enables Him to
make all things subject to Himself.
2 Corinthians 4: 16 (NRSV) So we do not lose
heart. Even though our outer nature
is wasting away, our inner
nature is being renewed -- day by day.
17 For this slight momentary
affliction is PREPARING
us for an eternal weight of glory,
beyond all measure, 18 because we
look not at what can be seen, but at what
cannot be seen -- for what can be seen
is temporary.... but what cannot be
seen is ETERNAL.
2 Corinthians 5: 6 (NRSV) So we are always
confident; even though we know that while we are
at home in the body, we are
AWAY from the Lord; 7 for we
walk by faith -- not by
sight. 8 Yes, we do have confidence;
and we would rather be away from the body, and
at home with the Lord. 9 So whether
we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please
Him.
1 Corinthians 15: 50 (NRSV) What I am saying,
brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and
blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of
God, nor does the perishable inherit the
imperishable.
1 Peter 5: 10 (NRSV) And after you have suffered
for a little while, the God of all
grace.... who has called you to His
ETERNAL glory in Christ.... will
Himself restore, support,
strengthen, and establish you.
2 Corinthians 3: 17 (NRSV) Now the Lord is
the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom. 18 And all of us, with unveiled
faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected
in a mirror, are BEING
TRANSFORMED into the
same image -- from one degree of
glory to another; for
this comes from the
Lord.... the Spirit.
I interpret the Bible to say that God allows and
causes His plans to come into effect, for each of His
people, in precisely the way that
He has set forth. We humans may not
understand God's purposes -- in this life. Hopefully, we
will understand, "later".
Remember.... God is not
required to "explain" His actions to us.
"We are the clay; He is the potter."
The following scriptures help me to understand that God is
always in command, and that He does not
frivolously, or impotently, permit "bad
things" to happen to His people. I
perceive that both the "bad things" -- like the "good
things" -- are all a part of the molding-and-building
process for each of God's "children" (see link
God
-- the source of good and evil):
1 Peter 5:
9 (NEB) .....remember that your brother
Christians are going through the same
kinds of suffering.... while they are
in the world.
1 Peter 5: 10 (NRSV) (Repeated from above.) And
after you have suffered for a little
while, the God of all grace, who has
called you to His
eternal glory in Christ, will
Himself restore, support,
strengthen, and establish you.
Lamentations 3: 24 (NRSV) "The LORD is my
portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in Him."
25 The LORD is good to those
who wait for Him, to the soul that seeks Him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the
LORD. 27 It is good for one to bear the
yoke in youth, 28 to sit alone in silence, when
the Lord has IMPOSED it, 29 to
put one's mouth to the dust .... 30 to give
one's cheek to the smiter -- and be filled with
insults. 31 For the Lord will not
reject forever. 32 Although He CAUSES
grief, He will have compassion according to the
abundance of His steadfast love; 33
(Jerusalem Bible): It is not for His
own pleasure that He
GRIEVES the human
race.
Lamentations 3: 37 (NRSV) Who can command and have
it done, if the Lord has not ORDAINED it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?
The above
scriptural references tell it, the way it
is.... according to God!
ADDENDUM: Consider the following magnificent
Bible references, which inter-relate with the subject
discussed above:
Psalm 139 13 (NRSV) For it was you who formed my
inward parts. You knit me together, in my mother's
womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works,
that I know very well. 15 My frame was
not hidden from you -- when I was
BEING MADE in secret -- intricately
woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes beheld
my unformed substance. In your book were
written ALL THE DAYS that were formed
FOR ME -- when none of them as yet
existed.
Acts 17: 16 (NRSV) He
ALLOTTED the times of their
existence, and the boundaries of the
places where they would live, 27 so that they would
search for God, and perhaps
grope for Him, and find
Him -- though indeed He is not far from
each one of us.
1/21/07
|