Week Thirty-Three, 2024
It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart (Ecclesiastes 7:2).
It is what I do for a living. I help people plan and prepare for what happens legally after they close their eyes for the last time. When I was a Boy Scout, I learned the scout motto: Be Prepared.
Recently, a lady called me and said: “I need a will in case I die.” I told her the only question was whether or not she had a will, but there was no question whether she was going to die. Though time, place, age and the like are unknown, the certainty of the life of everyone is death.
From God’s perspective, death is both menacing and merciful. It is both an ending and a beginning. It can be both a separation and a reunion. It is a certainty. Death is inevitable. Everybody experiences it.
Despite all of the medical progress we’ve seen in prolonging life and improving its quality, the death rate remains virtually unchanged. It just tends to happen later in life these days. The Hebrew writer tells us, “It is appointed for men to die once” (Hebrews 9:27).
We can’t avoid death, but we can prepare for it. Getting our worldly “affairs in order” is important, but what is even more important is getting our spiritual affairs in order. It is something I ask every one of my clients.
It is essential that we understand the progression — that death follows life, and that after death comes the judgment. Some day we all will stand before the throne of judgment and be asked by what right do we enter into Heaven.
Our death could happen today, or it may be a while, but it will. There is no “In case”. Ask yourself if your spiritual affairs are “in order.” May your motto be: “Be prepared.”
SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
Your work matters: The first person said to be “filled with the Spirit” in the Bible was not a pastor, but a craftsman and artist of wood & stone in Exodus 31:2-5.
Don’t minimize your daily work in the market place – it is nothing less than a Holy Calling.
Your work… your position is your platform.
In the New Testament…
Of the 132 public appearances that Jesus made – 122 were in the marketplace
Of the 52 parables that Jesus told – 45 had a workplace context
Of the 40 miracles in the Book of Acts – 39 were in the marketplace
Work, in its different forms, is mentioned more than 800 times in the Bible – more than all the words used to express worship, music, praise and singing combined.
No matter where or what it is, your work is a holy calling. Treat it as such.
Don’t minimize your daily work – it is nothing less than a Holy Calling
• God has you right where He wants you… Right now!
• Remember – Jesus was a Carpenter most of His adult life
Marty Stubblefield
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A Sunday school teacher asked the children, who was upset that the younger brother returned? A child answered, “The fattened calf.”
QUOTES YOU CAN USE
Those who control their passions do so because their passions are weak enough to be controlled. William Blake
When you have more years behind you than ahead of you, you think about life differently.
Why must I prove that I am me to pay my bills over the phone? Do strangers call to pay my bills? And if they do, why don’t you let them?
The worst wheel on the wagon makes the most noise. Ronald Reagan
I desire to do what is good and right and pure. And at the same time, I desire to do what is worldly and sinful. Marty Stubblefield
Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing. Ralph Waldo Emerson
No matter what we face, God remains above all. No matter what happens—good or evil—God remains above all. In whatever occurs, God remains above all, to turn to and return to. Scott Whitaker
We often look at people who don’t have all the creature comforts of modernity, but the really impoverished are those who do not know Jesus! Dwight Short
But as the Helper and Guide, the Holy Spirit, revives us to stand against the onslaught of the adversary and live in line with His will.
Man is a pawn in the hands of evil, that rules our world. Stephen Bernard
I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life; I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well. Theodore Roosevelt
The test of a student is not how much he knows, but how much he wants to know. Alice Wellington Rollins
When I was young, I could run faster, jump higher, and never get tired. There’s only one explanation. Gravity is a lot stronger now than it was back then.
I have learned so much from my mistakes that I’m thinking about making a few more.
What wings are to a bird, and sails to a ship, so is prayer to the soul!!! Corrie Ten Boom
Our limitations come when we refuse to receive God’s power. Dan Shock
The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Treat your friends as you do your pictures and place them in their best light. Jennie Jerome Churchill
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