"Beyond The Grave!"

 "And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." (Hebrews 2:15 KJV)

  "Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God's curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)" (Romans 8:18-25 NLT)

 When I was in 11th grade, going to school in Carthage Texas, I enjoyed my Creative Writing Class, as the teacher was very excited about teaching her class. There were several short stories that I had written, and she took those stories and put them on display for all her students, in every class, to see and read. The one that really toped the rest, was called, "The Sparrow's Flight." 

 Basically, it was a short story about someone who jumped off of a cliff, but in the body of the story, there was something on the face of the cliff that needed to be seen, which could not be seen without actually jumping off and looking at it, on the way down. There is more to that story than meets to eye; because there are certain things we will not know without having experienced death. 

 That might sound morbid and sad, but, if there is one thing I have discovered within this life of living, that real life doesn't start until this life on earth is totally done...

"Who then will condemn us? No one - for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.") No, despite all these things, overwhelmingly victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow - not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below - indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:34-39 NLT)