It takes my breath when I think about the final and ultimate moment this life will end and I will depart this veil of Flesh. The body will cease functioning and the mind as an organ will stop. This will be the most profound and intense future moment of Our Lives and we will not live in this realm anymore, to tell about it. The thought of it is incredible and gripping. Many think they deal with it, by NOT dealing with it. Yet, earthly mortality is real and each of us will surely face it.

…..I choose to face this Prospect now.

   I do not like to hear the words, “I am dying, Pastor. ” Yet, as a pastor, I am the one often called when this is what’s on people’s mind. These are some thoughts I often share when people are facing their last moment, in this life.
   Sometimes – a large part of my calling has been helping some mighty fine people take their final Earth steps.
   At some point, we will all have to face this inevitable conclusion. Nothing is more sure. We will die. Also, Nothing is more pertinent to being ready for our own mortality, than a solid Christian faith.
   Let’s think together, about preparing for our final, ultimate event. – What is your End Of Life plan?
   It is a time when No words are adequate. There is No right order, although each Believer’s circumstance will be different & likely be directed by a different Leading of Holy Spirit…
   When I talk to people about thid subject, Either more comes to me, than I can ever say- – Or I draw a complete blank- – and very little comes to mind…
But I have done a lot of thinking and preparing on the subject. And I have been prepared in many ways for the subject, so here are some helpful thoughts, If dying is on your mind.

  Question Number 1. Is it truly the end of life??? or
A. a mistaken viewpoint
B. a possible viewpoint
Both are possible. Make sure before you launch into this realm of thinking that it is indeed the case.
   I have had those thinking they were in an end of life scenario that I have had to help strengthen to face more life. And I have had those who were really going to leave quicker than it seemed, to help with strength.

The Scripture says:
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
Psalm 139:16 (NASB)

   God knows the day and hour of our birth and our earthly demise. But only He does and so we are wise to seek Him from cradle to grave.

   If it is definitely in the end of life, then acceptance is absolutely in order.   The Bible says in:
Ecclesiastes 8:8a No One has power over the spirit to retain the spirit, And no1 has power in the day of death.

   When it is your time to go. You might as well learn how to Let go and let go more. Because you have no power to stop that absolute inevitability.

   When Jesus “gave up the Ghost” He said Luke 23:46 “Father, into Thy hands, I commend My Spirit.” It was the act of his spirit leaving his body that was truly the end of Jesus earthly life.

   I remember when my father died. I tried to give him CPR. But as I did, I sensed My Father, in the air behind me, when I thought his life was still in the body. His ghost had already left the body.

   Nothing is more important in this final hour than to make sure that you haved Receive Christ.- Never have the simple simple facts of the gospel been more important. / The important thing is Always the message. Especially then!
   You must be like a child to enter heaven.  It is not the time to calculate or or do complex calculations of reason.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

   The simple fact is that the most important thing to do is the realize simple urgency of receiving Christ and make sure you have done so.

   Sometimes there is no time or room for even the slightest preparation. You must go and you must go right now!  This is the case in an unexpected demise or accident. If this is the case it is wise:
No Matter what the season:
Let Go…. Let Go More.

Also, I have dealt with people that needed to go.. I could name them.  People who’s severe pain was so great that I wanted them to be able to go right away. I witnessed those who’s Pain and end of life events were so excruciating that I did that I desperately wanted to see them be able to exit this life.

   One very close person travailed even to the point that they begged me to help them die. It is best in these situations, to pray privately for the Father to help them pass and do not communicate anything that could be construed by them as a need to stay. Let them go.
Isaiah 57:2. – For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die.

   Make sure that if you know you are facing the end. That you Concentrate on the completeness of the work of Christ, not the completeness or lack thereof, your own life.
John 1:12 N L T
12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.
Christ knows the way to the eternal presence of the Father. Yield to Him and His wisdom. Do not try to figure it out yourself. Just let go and let God in the end.

   There is a mindset that I recommend in the very end of life that is more constructive than all others. Have A total Yielded devotion to Christ. Recklessly abandon any mistrust in God.

   Approach God as child Would wanting a hug from a parent. Plead the blood of Jesus with faith.  Make peace in your heart with all. Forgive all…. Let all malice go. Give yourself completely to love and the thoughts of love.

   When you have decided in your heart, to give yourself to Jesus. If you feel resistance, counter any mental resistance with: Pascals wager to program your mind.
You don’t have to quote scripture with everything you say. But keep reverent scriptures always on your mind & in your heart! . Remember the prayer. *Now I lay me down to sleep. Treat trust in God like a mate. Have no room in you for anything else. Steady your trust. Like you would your balance on a balance beam.

   Seek the The Father’s Touch, Assurance & witness. This can come as a beautiful sunset, a bird’s song, A gentle breeze or just a sweet thought. Whatever it is, receive God’s it’s healing touch and it’s many forms. Be looking for His grace and mercy.

   As far as your attitude and outlook is concerned. When You can’t figure out what’s wrong. That means, nothing’s wrong.
Don’t expect a voice. A “Deep Knowing” will do.

   Like a runner practices handing the baton in a relay race. Be ready, willing and eager to relinquish your controls to God.  REST IN YOUR DISCOVERY
John 14:3 New Living Translation
“”When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.””

   I remember I had a very special friend named Beecher Bivens. He would not let me leave in the very end, until I prayed with him. We both cried with both the hurt & joy of the moment.

See your final breath as your Final Communion. Wanted the sweetness of this part of life, like my friend Beecher.

   I had an out of body experience. It will Forever will alter my view of the end of life. I believe God gave me this experience to share better, this loving guidance with you.

   Be Like the runner plunging through the finish line! Run to the end with Passion. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7) said Paul.

Look at this final step as a swimmer would: a clean cool pool-on a hot summer day
BECAUSE FOR THE CHRISTIAN, DEATH IS A GLORIOUS PORTAL,
One That leads to the unimaginable transformation of eternal life. Kind of like a cocoon is only a stage of a larvae turning into to a butterfly. Approach the portal with pleasant anticipation, not dread

D. DEPARTING
E. EARTH’S
A. ATMOSPHERE
T. TO
H. Heaven

1 Corinthians 13:12. N L T
12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.

   …..So, as you consider this most ultimate & final of targets. Certain things will bring you great comfort and peace, as you continue to draw ever closer to this final precipice.

   The first and foremost of these peace producing things is the promise of Christ. That where He is, we will be also. (Jn.14:3) That He has gone before to prepare a place for us. This should bring us great joy and comfort.

   If these were the words of a Madman, liar or fool, it would bring us no comfort. But that the greatest, most miraculous personage in all of human history spoke these words – gives great impact to their meaning.

   It was He, who stood for truth in His life and emulated the highest example of good and Holiness. It was this Divine man, Whom absolutely declared that there was an eternal Destiny of great Beauty for His followers. It was this wonderful Saviour Christ, who spoke these words. So that brings us truly a incredible assurance and great hope. (1st Peter 1:3-4, 2 Corinthians 4:17&18, Romans 8:18).

   The life of Jesus has been totally and empirically verified as a true event of History. So His claims must be dealt with as real claims, from a real man, who individually changed the course of human existence.

   And not only must the claims be considered as coming from a history transformer. But also there is a great and logical case that this world changing man really did raise from the dead.

   The testimony of eyewitnesses and first hand accounts must be treated as powerful evidence. That not only are the claims of Jesus coming from a history transformer but also from the one in mankind’s history, most qualified to solve our worst problem. It was this Divine man of miracles, who has made the best claim to solve our worst problem: death.

   So as we face this bone shatteringly​ important and ultimately final event, of our lives. What a wonderful Serenity there is in knowing these incredible claims come from the only miraculous man: For which, there is an intelligent case to be made that He saw death and came back. How much greater does this make our serenity. Knowing that it was the self-stated mission of Jesus; to come back to tell and prove to us, the promise of Eternity.

   I think a lot about the apologetic, ontological argument. For me “God is that Being other than which nothing greater can be conceived.” Anselm of Canterbury first spoke these words. But they ring true in my heart today, with great confirmation.

   On top of the assurances of Christ’s promise, Christ’s life, and the witness of the scriptural texts; there is an amazing amount of assuring confirmation of the hereafter, in God’s Gift of nature.

   Look how the seed planted in the Shell dissolves in seeming destruction. Only for the Resurgence and Rebirth of New Life to Come from its former shell. Look at the amazing intricacy of how a caterpillar seemingly, willfully spins its own demise. In the perfect certainty that it will become something more wonderful thereafter.

   There is still no more excellent explanation of how the wonderful soup of biological ingredients that this Earth provided, became immensely beautiful, intricate and diverse organisms with myriads​ of difference and detail. Than the thought that an incredibly intelligent Being was in fact expressing creativity and design, through the life we witness around us.

So then, if this life is actually the product of a Being, incredibly beyond our capacity to imagine; then certainly our best acknowledgement is a life of service to this Being. And honestly giving the full expression of our giftedness and love service in life is only our justly due way, to express gratitude.

   Additionally, if this life is actually the product of that Great Divine Being, then does it not make sense that the culmination of this life would also be a part of His plan?

   And how can there be a better preparedness for that final breathtaking moment of life? When all that we know here shall cease to be; Than a deep internal knowing, that we have spent ourselves and given ourselves freely and lovingly away to that benevolent Being? So I freely give myself to that Being, Whom alone shall control our Eternal destiny; in whatever the Eternal domain shall truly be.

   There can be no better conclusion to this little article of mine than the following:

“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 2 Corinthians 15:54 NIV

   So it may be that that final moment truly takes your breath away! But who knows what the wonderful vistas of heaven shall be; When the eternal breath of God is breathed on us afresh, in beautiful realms only knowable, in the eternal heavenly aftermath, of this earthly 🌎 life.