Death went out to the preachers house, come and go with me, the preacher cried out, I’m not ready to go I ain’t got no travellin shoes. The words to that song went through my mind as I sat in my dad’s recliner and looked at the sheepskin slippers I had bought for him several years ago, they are bent to fit his misshapen feet and I so longed to see him wearing them once again however would I bring him back to wear them again? Absolutely not! We used to sing a hymn that said “On that resurrection morning when all the dead in Christ shall rise, I’ll have a new body, praise the Lord I’ll have a new life. Born in weakness raised in power ready to live in Paradise, I’ll have a new body, praise the Lord I’ll have a new life.” Now I want to talk about a few things, you may believe them or not but they are a very real truth. I was born and cut my teeth on the story of salvation; I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that he was born of a virgin, died on a cross, rose on the third day, was seen by hundreds of people, rose into the clouds to be at the right hand of the Father and will return again to receive us unto Himself. A line that Scarlett O’Hara spoke to Rhett Butler comes to mind, as she was very drunk and crying because of her sins she declared that she was going to go to hell, Rhett soothed her with “Maybe there is no hell”, “Oh yes there is” she adamantly affirmed, “I was raised on it!” So yes I was “raised on it” and I know it is all truth but there is something about watching a person who is knows God, who has served Him all of his life, as they get their travellin shoes ready to go. As he slipped in and out of his body and told us amazing things he was seeing it gave me a whole new perspective on the after life, AFTER life? I am rethinking that phrase because after my dad told us that he saw his dad standing over at the foot of his bed and had the knowledge that he had come to escort him home he loudly proclaimed “I am not going to die! It’s so simple, you just go out and come back and you never feel a thing!” Then when he described the “membrane” that separates us I realized again that those who have gone on are very present and know what is going on with us. I have had a mother tell me things that were going on with her children and when I checked it was all true, I have had many experiences that have proven to be real and of God, God allowed. I say that to you who may be saying I am into witchcraft or want to quote the scripture to me about seeking the dead, no I have never done that, anytime I have had an experience like that it has come to me unsolicited. I think that it is something we shouldn’t shy away from or be fearful of. It is not something you do for a party trick or to try to find out details of your future, but when you need encouragement from your loved one, at least the way it has been for me, is that God allows it through the Holy Spirit. But I digress I was speaking of new bodies wasn’t I? My dad’s shoulders had gotten so stiff that it was extremely difficult for him to even raise his hand to feed himself. His grip once so strong had been hampered because of numbness in his fingers and the two strong pillars that held his body upright had become bent and crooked due in part to genetics and because of multiple injuries. I saw him yesterday morning as I was between sleep and waking and he was standing strong and handsome in a white coat with a little red hanky in his pocket, black trouser and shiny, very shiny, black shoes. He was smiling and waved to me… oh how good it was to see him that way. So I ask again do you think I would bring him back just to know he was upstairs a prisoner of his own body? No indeed. Today was his dad’s birthday and I know that there was a big party going on in heaven to celebrate… well if there wasn’t let me believe there was ok? 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master’s word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words.
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