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WHEN IT IS
APPROPRIATE TO raise someone from the dead? 3/15/11
Matt 10:7-9 NKJV
And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of
heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers,
raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have
received, freely give.
SAVED FROM HELL
The best reason there is to bring someone back from the
dead is to save them from an eternity in hell. It is
their second chance to accept the Lord after
experiencing the afterlife and having a shaking wake up
call.
Matt 10:28-29 NKJV
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell.
Rev 1:17-19 NKJV
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But
He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be
afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who
lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.
Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
PROMOTION TO HEAVEN
If a person is a Christian, I believe heaven is the
greatest promotion and graduation. I watched all the
series from 700 club last week on people who died and
came back. Once people see heaven, they dont want to
come back. So in a day of power, I would have a hard
time raising a Christian back to life, just because that
is what is expected.
Ps 116:15 NKJV
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His
saints.
Eccl 7:1 NKJV
A good name is better than precious ointment, and the
day of death than the day of one's birth.
2 Cor 5:6-10
So we are always confident, even though we know that
as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home
with the Lord. 7 For we live by believing and not by
seeing. 8 Yes, we are fully confident, and we would
rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we
will be at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are here
in this body or away from this body, our goal is to
please him. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be
judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the
good or evil we have done in this earthly body.
LIVING SACRIFICE
There are other things to consider though. While we are
down here, it is our time to plant seeds of His kingdom
into the earth, through prayer, faith, Words, etc. The
harvest of our seeds planted continues WAY after we die.
So our time on earth is a very important window of
opportunity. Even prayers for others in our last day
alive on earth can make a difference to generations.
Some choose to live and choose to stay at great cost,
knowing the opportunity of even one more day to plant
seeds into the earth. Does the person want to stay or
go?
Phil 1:21-26 NLT
For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying
is even better. 22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful
work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better.
23 I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be
with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24 But
for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. 25
Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so
I can continue to help all of you grow and experience
the joy of your faith.
FREE WILL
God honors free will and I believe a person's time to go
involves the lives of those they are connected with, as
well as involves a person's free will on whether they
want to go. If God honors free will, so should we.
Scripture has a few things to say about this. Sometimes
people die early to be protected from the evil to come.
Isa 57:1-2 NLT
Good people pass away; the godly often die before
their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No
one seems to understand that God is protecting them from
the evil to come. 2 For those who follow godly paths
will rest in peace when they die.
2 Kings 22:20 NKJV
Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers,
and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and
your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will
bring on this place."'" So they brought back word to the
king.
Some people's lives are extended due to a request.
2 Kings 20:1-6 NKJV
In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And
Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and
said to him, "Thus says the Lord: 'Set your house in
order, for you shall die, and not live.'" 2 Then he
turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord,
saying, 3 "Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have
walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and
have done what was good in Your sight." And Hezekiah
wept bitterly.
4 And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into
the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him,
saying, 5 "Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My
people, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of David your
father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your
tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you
shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6 And I will add
to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this
city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will
defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My
servant David."'"
RHEMA 11/09/04 WICKED AND RIGHTEOUS MEN ARE ETERNAL
SOULS
REVELATION: Today I was listening to a CD where
a person went to hell. I stopped the CD and said, "Lord
I just do not understand why there is hell!" All at
once I had a download that in the days of Noah, men
lived a long time. They had become utterly depraved and
corrupt without God. It grieved God that He had made
men. I suddenly realized that all men’s souls are
eternal, they were created to live and not die. When
they refuse God, the longer they live, the longer they
become more and more corrupt. Without God they would
all be destined for hell, because it is only a matter of
time as to their utter depravity and perversion of all
that is good. You can only belong to God or the devil,
you can not be in between.
WORD TO PONDER WHY DO THEY GO TO HELL? 11/09/04
How often I have heard your questions about hell,
because you know that I AM a loving God. Beloved, it is
time to understand the boundaries of My kingdom. When I
created man, I created him a living soul. A man’s soul
is alive, even without a body. Man cannot dwell in the
state of in-between. When given enough time, they will
ultimately belong to Me or the devil. There is nothing
else available.
In the days of Noah, it grieved me greatly when I
witnessed the depravity and perversion of mankind. It
was true that the longer man lived, the more they opened
themselves to the devil’s wicked influence and perverted
all that was good. I regretted making man upon the
earth. I know the end from the beginning and know the
ultimate downfall and wicked consumption of all men.
Just as there are different rewards for the righteous,
there are degrees of punishment for the unrighteous.
There are greater and lesser sins and each receive
recompense for their wicked deeds. Sometimes I save man
from the evil to come by cutting their life short. Yes,
dear one, even in death, I grant mercy.
Isa 57:1 NKJV
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to
heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering
that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
Matt 6:24 NKJV
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will
hate the one and love the other, or else he will be
loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve
God and mammon.
Mark 9:40-41 NKJV
For he who is not against us is on our side.
Gen 6:5-7 NKJV
And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the
earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
John 19:11 NKJV
Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all
against Me unless it had been given you from above.
Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the
greater sin ."
Luke 10:13-16
"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if
the mighty works which were done in you had been done in
Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago,
sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more
tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for
you. 15 And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven,
will be brought down to Hades. 16 He who hears you
hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who
rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."
Luke 12:47-48 NKJV
And that servant who knew his master's will, and did
not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall
be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not
know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall
be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given,
from him much will be required; and to whom much has
been committed, of him they will ask the more.
BACK FROM THE DEAD 7/04/09
I had the most interesting series of events happen
yesterday. I know the Lord was highlighting His topic
about premature death, the numbering our days and
raising the dead.
Ps 139:16 NLT
You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life
was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
Wayne and I had been talking about the fact we have
living wills and do not want doctors or loved ones to
keep us alive artificially, but want to give God the
numbering of our days. The discussion occurred because
a friend’s church had suffered the tragedy of losing 2
young adult siblings in a car wreck and they were
holding prayer meetings to raise them from the dead.
Matt 10:7-9 NKJV
And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven
is at hand.' Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise
the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received,
freely give.
When someone dies prematurely, I am always reminded of
the following verse. To me it represents the mercy of
God over a life:
Isa 57:1-2 NLT
The righteous pass away; the godly often die before
their time. And no one seems to care or wonder why. No
one seems to understand that God is protecting them from
the evil to come. For the godly who die will rest in
peace.
God alone sees the future, and He can see the sufferings
of a person if they were to live. It might be they are
making wrong decisions and would end up in hell, if
allowed to continue that course. It might be that the
person is not prepared for coming persecutions. It
might be that what that person were to face would be the
opposite of God’s plan and they can accomplish much more
in heaven than on earth. There are so many things we do
not know about the process of eternal rewards and the
cloud of witnesses.
In the case of the 2 young adults, one was living a
godly life and the other was a believer, but was not.
Who knows if the godly one prayed some kind of a
desperate, rescue prayer over her brother. In such a
case, her death might have been a heroic sacrifice to
save him from hell. She died at the scene. But the
brother lingered in the helicopter ride to the
hospital. He had a chance to get his life right with
God. The godly one was a housekeeper and she served
those who were in ministry. She will reap the eternal
rewards of the people she served for having invested her
life and time into them, allowing them to minister.
Mark 9:41 NKJV
For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My
name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to
you, he will by no means lose his reward.
CONFIRMATION TO OUR CONVERSATIONS
Hours after our discussion when it was not in my mind,
the Holy Spirit brought into memory how mad Smith
Wigglesworth's wife was when he called her back from
death. She rebuked him and told him it was her time to
go. They spoke awhile and then she died again.
As I was thinking about how mad she was, I went into to
say goodnight to Wayne. He was on his last 40 seconds
of watching a cartoon movie called “Ice Age.” Scrat,
the squirrel who had been some kind of a hero, had
died. He walks through these huge pearly gates and
there are all these nuts everywhere. His hair is all
smooth, and he looks so happy and no longer bedraggled.
He is SO happy and starts gathering all these nuts all
over the place. And then he sees this huge, huge nut
dangling in mid air, it is
glorious.
He races up to touch it, and just before he makes
contact, he is stopped and he is pulled back down to
earth. He wakes up to see Sloth’s slobbery mouth that
has just given him resuscitation. Scrat is furious and
chases after Sloth, who brought him back. And that is
the end of the movie!
Both Wayne and I thought it was rather amazing
connection to the topic of the day. Then a few days
later someone emailed me the following testimony:
CONFIRMATION
email 7/07/09
“Today I leave for St. Louis to the (second) “Last End
Time Handmaiden’s Convention” in St. Louis (Gwen Shaw is
85 now). I just have to tell you she had what she called
her “Last convention” about 2006 and I attended for that
reason. The next year her husband died. The next year
she almost died.
Gwen was standing at the gate of heaven where the Lord
said, “Gwen, wait. I have to get your husband.” Colonel
Jim Shaw came to the gate. The Lord opened the veil over
the balcony, revealing those crying out all over the
world for Gwen to live. He asked Jim what he wanted to
do about Gwen, have her come be with him or stay for the
people. Jim hesitates then answered, “Oh, let her go
back, the people need her. I can wait a little longer.”
That’s why her 2009 brochure heading shouts, ‘ONE MORE
End Time Handmaidens and Servants World Convention.’
{Name}
FREE WILL
I do believe that God works with men and their free
will, in regards to leaving their earthy bodies.
Remember Hezekiah who prayed and wept bitterly. God
heard him and granted him another 15 years.
Isa 38:6 NKJV
And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him
and said to him, "Thus says the LORD:’ Set your house in
order, for you shall die and not live.'" Then Hezekiah
turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD,
and said,” Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have
walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and
have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept
bitterly. And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah,
saying, "Go and tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says the LORD, the
God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I
have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days
fifteen years.
The will to survive, the passion to serve when needed,
it is strong in some people and weak in others. This is
often the case when married couples who have lived long
marriages, often die rapidly after one has left.
I remember the testimony of Bob Jones. When he died,
the Lord asked him if he would go back. Bob said it
hurt down there and he didn’t want to go back. Then the
Lord showed him the line of people going to hell and Bob
said he would go back if it meant only saving one person
from going there.
According to the following scripture, choosing to live
on earth for others is a precious sacrifice.
Phil 1:20-24 NLT
For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even
better. Yet if I live, that means fruitful service for
Christ. I really don't know which is better. I'm torn
between two desires: Sometimes I want to live, and
sometimes I long to go and be with Christ. That would be
far better for me, but it is better for you that I live.
I also remember a testimony of Heidi Baker who is a
missionary in Africa. They have had so many people they
have raised from the dead. In her Bible classes, they
have a joke and say, “Who in here has NOT been raised
from the dead?”
I personally believe that there is a valid time to raise
from the dead, and a valid time to let go. If a person
is unsaved, it might be God’s mercy to raise them from
the dead and give them a second chance! On the other
hand, if a person has lived a long, godly life full of
affliction and persecution, then it may be their
graduation time for heavenly rewards. In the case of
those who die prematurely and all cases, it is important
to seek God’s will and not just assume our rights.
When the Lord gives us the power to do miracles, we need
to always remember to submit those gifts to God’s
authority and will. He specifically tells us that many
will use unauthorized authority in His Name.
Matt 7:22-23 NLT
On judgment day many will tell me, 'Lord, Lord, we
prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name
and performed many miracles in your name.' But I will
reply, 'I never knew you. Go away; the things you did
were unauthorized.'
He has a plan and purpose for everything on earth and
heaven. Even in God’s will, He partners with us in our
own wills. The whole topic is a wonderful mystery
between heaven and earth and how both places are
intimately connected.
Eccl 3:1-13 NKJV
Everything Has Its Time To everything there is a
season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time
to be born, And a time to die ; A time to plant, And a
time to pluck what is planted; 3 A time to kill, And a
time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build
up; 4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to
mourn, And a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away
stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to gain,
And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw
away; 7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to
keep silence, And a time to speak; 8 A time to love, And
a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace. 9
The God-Given Task What profit has the worker from that
in which he labors? 10 I have seen the God-given task
with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11 He has
made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put
eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find
out the work that God does from beginning to end. 12 I
know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice,
and to do good in their lives, 13 and also that every
man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his
labor — it is the gift of God. |
