Worship: For Heaven’s Sake “Lazareth sleepeth,” Jesus told the disciples. The disciples thought Jesus spoke of the brief hours of rest from the day’s labor. But Jesus made it clear: “Lazarus is dead.” Jesus uses sleep to teach us about death, says Pastor Flemons. Death is a sleep. (Read more below.)
Wellness: For Health’s Sake Presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have put forth their plans for the nation’s health. It is said that Trump’s cost more and Clinton’s insures more. But Pastor Flemons, a doctor of biblical wellness and naturopathy, says God’s plan is more affordable and more secure. (Read more below.)
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Words of Encouragement
Psalm 122:1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
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For Heaven’s Sake…
Thankfully, says Pastor Flemons, the dead are unconscious to all the misery that is happening to the living. They don’t have to be bothered by the struggles of life anymore. “They are just resting.”
The confusion often is a result of believing that the dead person is freed from the physical body and as a soul wanders the universe. That is spiritualism, the basis of the occult. (Read yesterday’s blog or listen to yesterday’s recording.) “Friends, you don’t have a soul; you are a soul,” says Pastor Flemons. “It is not something abstract.” It dies.
Genesis 2:7 is clear: And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Ezekiel 18:20 is also clear: The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
The confusion also comes because people believe that the breath is the soul. It is referred to as the spirit of a person. But again, the Bible makes it plain. “The spirit,” says Pastor Flemons, “is the breath of life–not some conscious entity.” God gives it for breathing. God takes it back when we die.
Ecclesiastes 12:7 is just as clear: Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
At the second coming of Jesus, God puts on believers a new body and imparts His breath again to believers who have died in Christ. The Apostle Paul speaks about this to every believer in 1 Corinthians 15:51-53: Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
Notice that Paul says “we all get changed at the same time,” says Pastor Flemons. No immortal change takes place immediately upon death. It will happen in a moment to all of us at the last trump. Both the dead Christians and the living Christians will be changed at the same time, meet Jesus in the air, and go to heaven with Him. The dead won’t be left in their graves. They too will be carried to heaven at the same time. There will be a reunion of loved ones. These are the words with which we have been told to use when offering comfort to the bereaved.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-16 is clear:
But I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
For Health’s Sake…
Probably 90 percent, or at least a large percentage of health insurance claims, says Pastor Flemons, are paid for preventable diseases. If people followed God’s health plan, they would only need accident insurance.
What is God’s health plan? Times of Refreshing Wellness Ministry spells it R-E-F-R-E-S-H-I-N-G. The R is Rely on God; E – Eat healthy; F – Fresh air; R – Rest; E – Exercise; S – Self-control; H – H2O, Drink water; I – In the sun; N – Never give up; and G – Give to others.
If you would consider each component of God’s plan, you’d have to agree, it’s cheaper. Relying on God doesn’t cost anything. Even Bibles are free in many cases. Eating healthy can be as cheap as gardening. Admittedly, organic foods in stores are expensive. You are paying for the time and effort and costs of production, transportation of the produce, plus the business costs of the merchant. Air is free. Rest is free. Exercise is free, unless you opt to purchase a gym membership. Self-control is free. Water once was free but now has a cost, unless probably you’re in the mountainous countryside. Being in the sun is free. Resolving to never give up is free. Giving to others is free; or it may have a bit of a cost if you have to buy gas to deliver something. Otherwise, giving may simply be your time, a listening ear, a hug, a smile, or sharing needed health information or the gospel.
Nevertheless, when compared to any other plan, God’s plan is best.
(Note: The article discussing the health plans Pastor Flemons referred to on the recording can be accessed at this link: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/trump-health-plan-would-raise-costs-clinton-s-would-insure-n653196.)