This is just for you today Bill. Jesus came to heal and to make well the ones who know they do not know, who know they cannot save themselves, as seen all through Scripture, especially this , Jesus Best Known and Open, Out Loud Prayer to Our Father in Matthew 11 >> AMP At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [I openly and joyfully acknowledge Your great wisdom], that You have hidden these things [these spiritual truths] from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants [to new believers, to those seeking God’s will and purpose]. AMPC At that time Jesus began to say, I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [and I acknowledge openly and joyfully to Your honor], that You have hidden these things from the wise and clever and learned, and revealed them to babies [to the childish, untaught, and unskilled]. CJB It was at that time that Yeshua said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you concealed these things from the sophisticated and educated and revealed them to ordinary folks. CEV At that moment Jesus said: My Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I am grateful that you hid all this from wise and educated people and showed it to ordinary people. DARBY At that time, Jesus answering said, I praise thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes.
We seem to have at least three distinctive parts, our mind, our body, and our spirit. We know that the body eventually quits working and dies, and that the functioning mind probably goes with that; but no one knows what happens to our spirit. it would seem that one’s spirit continues to exist, although how or where is unknown. There are enough cases where the person’s body was revived after being declared dead, that it appears the spirit was somewhere during that time. The Bible talks about two different kinds of people, and says that in the end time, the wheat will be separated from the tares (weeds). This makes me wonder if we might have two actually different people, from two different sources. Perhaps the people who believe that there is not an afterlife are people who simply can’t get in touch with their spiritual side, so they think that God does not exist ?
This part always seems to perturb me and I feel there is a connection to that time when the end is near or what brings us to that point. The state of ones mind, if I may say. I think when our time comes we should leave with no regrets. This does not mean we should not care about our decisions and their effects.
This is my belief - the soul and spirit live on. At death, time stops (in the grave), so it will be somewhat like it was at my last colonoscopy - all of a sudden, I woke up and it was as if no time passed. Same with a 3-hr operation I once had. So as soon as we die, we wake up (or so it seems). In other words, even going back a long way to someone such as Paul the apostle (my favorite Bible character), we will both wake up as if no time has passed, which it really didn't, except from an earthly perspective. (please don't think I am comparing myself to the great apostle - just thought of him as an example). Not only that, but we will have new, incorruptible bodies. There are many bible verses that support this, but I won't quote any.
Remember what it is was like before you were born? No? That's how it will be when you're dead. Much as we'd like to think, we're just not that important in the overall scheme of things.
Do you "know" what it was like before you were born? If not, why not? Have you never read history, most importantly Biblical, but even other human history may suffice for this example. True, we are not self-important, nor are most people important to other people, but eternal importance is shown by the price the Creator paid to Redeem the few He Redeems by Jesus' Blood Shed for every one whom He Purchases for eternity. To Him, Eternal Importance and Value Has Meaning, and to all whom He Chooses.
We are made of energy, energy cannot be destroyed. When we die we become something,a microwave, a drop of sunshine, a speck of pollen,whatever. The question is do we maintain consciousness? No we die. Now I have had devout Christians tell me that the Bible is the true literal word of"God". The book describes Heavens with streets paved in gold and sustenance being milk and honey. Really? Why would,"God have any interest is worldly valuables, what if I don't like milk or honey? Sure would,nt seem like heaven to me walking around on cold hard metal, being fed food I don't like. Naw keep your heaven, I want to go someplace where they feed you rib eyes and Old Granddad.
As I posted days ago on this thread, our afterlife is how our life contributed. Is Earth a better place because of my or your brief stay on it?