To be absent from the body is to be present with Jesus!

This is a faithful saying: For if we died with Him, We shall also live with Him, 2 Timothy 2:11 NKJV
 
I dreamed my family and I were living in a house with some people from our church. My father was with us. He was in good health. He moved into a new house. After his miraculous transformation he could not live in the same old dwelling place.
 
My Father joined the Navy when he was seventeen. He was an outdoorsman. He traveled the world. He lived on the edge looking for the next thrill. My parents divorced when I was very young. My father made no time for kids or God in his life.
 
My Dad was diagnosed with ALS. Within three years he lost the use of his body. He couldn’t eat or drink for the last two years. He had great difficult speaking even just a few words. He was tethered to a suction machine. He completely lost his independence.
 
I prayed for my father every day. I could see Jesus drawing him. I asked my Pastor to stop by to speak with him. Pastor shared the Lord with my Father. He responded to the gospel. My dad received Jesus as His Lord and Savior. He became a new creation!
 
My dad never went to church. He was not baptized. He was not able to do things Christians normally do. His soul was transformed. He began to value family and relationship more than his own life. For the first time my dad said, “I love you!”
 
Dad lived the last years of his life in a useless body. He was deprived of the things he loved. He was separated from God until the very end. He may have enjoyed an intimate relationship with the Lord. I do not know. I will ask when I see him again.  
 
My earthly father has moved. He is in a new home. He is no longer trapped inside of a body that weighs him down or keeps him from the things he loves. My father is in the presence of Jesus where there is fullness of joy!
 
We will not take pain, disappointment, regret, loss, anger or unforgiveness with us into eternity. We will not be weighed down by the worries of this fallen world. We will discard them like useless baggage! 
 
Are you being weighed down by the cares of the world? Look beyond them! Are you living for the next thrill? Do not be deceived by the passing pleasures of sin! Is your soul poisoned by unforgiveness? Toss into the sea of forgetfulness!
 
Look forward with eager anticipation to the day you stand before the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. You can live in His presence where there will be unbridled and unending joy.
 
Look forward to spending eternity with Jesus in blessed perfection forever! 
 
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