TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL (Wednesday 2nd December 2020)
“Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” Revelation 14:12-13 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 335th DAY OF OUR YEAR OF REJOICING
I repeated this devotional text today because I never knew it will make a stronger meaning in my heart today than it did yesterday when I have not heard this terrible news.
For the first time in my 29 years of ministry, I will be subjected to the excruciating pain that most committed servants of God I have seen over the years, go through. I thank the LORD for keeping me from having this pain all these years. But now it has happened, and I must confess I don’t know how to handle it.
It is overwhelming and terrible to loose a sheep of Jesus Christ to death at such a time like this; a sheep the LORD gave me to nurture and make Heaven worthy in partnership with the Holy Spirit. There are no words, just tears. My eternal consolation is, by the Help of the Holy Spirit, we succeeded in making her Haven worthy while she was with us in this life.
What a life? This lockdown will not let us gather as a spiritual family to share and weep before the LORD. Maybe that would have helped us to get a clearer picture of how God handles His faithful ones. When those who stand for the gospel die to be with the LORD whose gospel they stood for, at a time you do not expect any to graduate to Heaven as a committed pastor, it is indeed painful.
Now, I want to know more. I wanted to weep in silence but I can’t. I want to know LORD! I just want to know what I did not know about this terrible development. Because I was just rejoicing the other day how you had kept us from January to December, only for this to happen?
BUT I WILL NOT DARE QUESTION YOU LORD.
I have done all you taught me to do to keep the sheep from wolves and devils. She also did all she ought to do to keep herself Heaven worthy. That is my greatest consolation! “When things we cannot change happen, we have no choice but to submit to your will, LORD.”
The Bible says having done all, stand. Meaning, even if we did not get the result we aspect, we have no choice but to stand. We are to stand strong in faith and know that God is still faithful.
“We did all LORD, but did not get what we expected. The disease still took her life! Now we have no choice but to stand. Give us the grace to stand LORD, because there are no words, just tears. Give us the strength LORD to bear this.”
Child of God, though it cannot be compared with what he went through by any standards, I have been feeling like Job since I got this terrible news. I have not even been able to tell my Wife about this sad news. How can I tell her that her lovely spiritual daughter is no more? How are we going to handle this LORD?
The husband, with terrible pain at heart and tears, requested that I manage the news properly so that I will not ruin anyone, but the pain is too much for me. It has never happened to me before in ministry. This is new!
What a strong man! We prayed together last night on phone because I had traveled to get ready for the harvest coming in through the KU-Band satellite transmission. Don’t ask me who this person is, I can’t even mention now. I am too heartbroken to do so! You will know, and that is if you had not even known as you read this.
WHY WAS THIS CANCER OF THE LIVER NOT DISCOVERED EARLY, LORD? SO MANY WHYS ON MY MIND.
Did the hospital she went for checkup contributed to her sudden demise? Why will someone walk into a hospital strong and walk out a corpse? Is that what happens in the world of medicine? Please can someone tell me.
For now, I am not and cannot console anyone. So don’t ask me who this precious daughter of the LORD is, who the LORD welcomed home so suddenly days back, without informing us He will not be healing her in spite of our prayers, but welcoming her home instead.
Honestly, I did not know the year of rejoicing will have such a terrible news not to rejoice about, except that a soul will graduate to Heaven this year from my hands.
Of a truth, that is the job and experience of every committed pastor. We are to make sure people are heavenly worthy and ready at all times, so that when they step out of this life, they will graduate from our hands to Heaven not to hell. “But it’s painful LORD, to go through this!”
I think it 2020 is a year of rejoicing for Heaven more than for the earth, because the Bible says,
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints” (Psalm 116:15).
What is precious in the sight of the LORD is many times painful in our sight and terrible in our hearts, especially with growing kids left behind, LORD. I know this is precious in your sight but not in my sight. Forgive me LORD!
A portion of our devotional text says,
“Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”
I think the most difficult season in the life of a shepherd who is not a hireling is to watch a sheep of the LORD die in the LORD, in spite of doing all in the book to keep that sheep alive in the LORD. But God understands better! And when we get to Heaven, we will also understand it better by and by.
When will mankind cease to die LORD? When will immortality come? When will diseases come to an end? When will our frailty disappear forever? I know it can only take place in the age to come when we will meet again with this precious daughter of Zion.
Indeed, the frailty of humanity makes it impossible to survive certain things. I will be more stupid to ask you why you did not heal my spiritual daughter while we were all in prayer for her life. Job has taught me not to ask such foolish questions or sin with my lips in a time like this.
I ONLY LOOK FORWARD TO IMMORTALITY, WHEN DEATH WILL BE NO MORE.
I look forward to my own day when I will also step out of this wicked world and appear before your glorious face. She must be very happy for these few days she has being in Heaven. Everything have become real to her now. She must have seen His blessed face. Yes, she must have seen the LORD that we have always taught her to seek and walk with.
I believe she is experiencing the literal glory of Heaven that we have only had a glimpse of.
The song I taught her and others that sings,
“How wonderful Heaven must be, I know there is a mansion for me, the half of the story has never been told. How wonderful Heaven must be….” Must have become very real to her now!
She must have seen Paul, Isaiah, and other great men and women of faith.
The lock down will not even allow me to give the first soul to graduate to Heaven from my hands in 29 years of ministry a befitting burial. But I will try my best to see what I can do. I will be calling some of you at the right time to join me and her husband.
I remember asking the LORD to send back her soul back to us. But at a time I stopped to wonder; will she even allow that prayer to be answered?
Will a righteous soul that stepped into Heaven agree to return to a world of diseases and death? Will she agree to return to a body that could not withstand CANCER OF THE LIVER after receiving a glorious body from the LORD? No! I doubt!
Yes, I am in pain for losing a church member for the first time in my 29 years of ministry, but that will not allow God to send her back. Definitely when people fulfill their days, they graduate to the next life. We may think differently but that will never change anything.
Thank God I have always preached that we all live ready for Heaven, so that even if God may have promised us long-life and it becomes short, we may die Heaven worthy not hell worthy.
From the life of Job, and what happened to his family, it is clear that God will not always heal or stop us from dying, no matter how righteous we may be.
There are times He will just watch and say “Come home” while caring people are here praying and crying that you should not go home. That is the time to allow Him to be God in our lives, because one day even death will die and we will step into immortality.
IT IS MORE DIFFICULT TO BE A PASTOR THAN TO BE ANYTHING ELSE ON EARTH! I FEEL LIKE RESIGNING. BUT CAN I?
LORD, just give me the strength to go through this. Give the family and every one of us she left behind the grace to bear this. Let the Children be wrapped in the blanket of your love and the warmth of your grace. I know we will all die but please LORD, help me not to face this again, at least for a while because am broken.
And for you reading this, I want to admonish that you live a life that is always ready for the next life. You do not know when the God will say come home.
I remember standing over one of our spiritual daughters who would have been the first to die this year, and praying over her. My wife and I had to go to her house when we saw she was sitting at the gates of death. Today she is so alive and healthy. But this one, the LORD felt differently.
I remember asking the LORD what sins have I committed that may have hindered him from answering me on this. And He said to me “even when David committed adultery and killed Uriah, Israel did not die. They only died when he numbered them.” I was hearing that for the first time.
He went on to say, “it is when shepherds commit the iniquity and trespass of not leading the flock to hit His true kingdom advance targets on earth that they expose the sheep… It is also when sheep do not follow that they expose themselves. BUT this case is different”
There are other things He said to me, because I was really down and out.
I think for now; I must write in my heart these prophetic words from our devotional text that says;
‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”
Friend, as we prepare for the Year of Higher Heights, let’s make the Higher Heights of Faith our greatest desire. Our Sister has experienced the Highest Height in CHRIST; a height every true Child of God on earth should be preparing for; the height of seeing His blessed face and experiencing God’s glory in Heaven.
How are we living this life? Are we living it in the fear of God and getting ready for the next life or we are being hypocrites? As for our departed spiritual daughter, she has run her race, she has finished her course. We are the next on God’s list to also run our race and finish our course!
May we finish well and strong, in Jesus precious name. Amen!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE A MEDITATION FOR US TODAY!
“Remember your creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well,
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it” Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 NKJV