1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 has a message of great joy and anticipation for the born again believer!
13 Now also we would not have you ignorant, brethren, about those who fall asleep [in death], that you may not grieve [for them] as the rest do who have no hope [beyond the grave]. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will also bring with Him through Jesus those who have fallen asleep [in death]. 15 For this we declare to you by the Lord’s [own] word, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord shall in no way precede [into His presence] or have any advantage at all over those who have previously fallen asleep [in Him in death]. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the Lord! 18 Therefore comfort and encourage one another with these words.
The ONLY sorrow in the death of a born again believer is among those who will miss them so much, until that day when JESUS appears for us in the sky and we rise to meet Him, and those who have gone on before, in the air! We will then be with Him FOREVER! HALLELUJAH! THAT is one of the reasons why death has no more sting for us! Another is that the kingdom of death and darkness have been rendered powerless over those believers who will exercise their God-give authority over them! Remember, HE has given us HIS authority! Let's walk in it just as JESUS did during His earthly ministry! Doing so will bring glory to HIS Name and will bring many others into the Kingdom of Light, and Life and Love! AMEN! Here is Hillsong UNITED with "No Reason To Hide":
Shalom in Him!
