"Day Two"

"Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah. Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders be known in the dark? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?" (Psalms 88:10-12)
I am so sorry for ending yesterday so abruptly, I was having a moment our Father that I needed to rest in. Some might think that these questions are questions of doubt, as if the writer doubts life after death, or doubts the resurrection. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sometimes we need to ask the negative to understand the positive, or dabble with secular questions to get to the truth. As far as I am concerned, this life is more of a mystery to me than the life which will come after. I cannot give any certainty to what happens in this life, but I surely can for what happens next. How do I know? I asked that incase you might have asked it yourself. I know because Jesus said so! I believe everything that Jesus said! Now if we are talking about this body, then that's a completely different story all together. This body, once it has died and has been laid in the grave will experience nothing: Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, from the ground we came, to the ground we will return. But that's just this physical body, born corruptible and destined to die. I fully believe that upon my death my spirit will go to be with the Lord, immediately and without hesitation! This body will be resurrected in the last day, but it will be raised up incorruptible and glorified. So, if you are looking to have fellowship with God from the grave, it's not going to happen; the grave is just that, a place for the dead to lay in wait, waiting in death to be raised up on that final day. Just so you know, I went ahead and purchased our graves and prepaid for our burial cost, adding in a little extra, just in case nobody had any money. If I did not do it, then I would have been cremated and put in several different urns, like most everyone else in my family has been laid to rest. After listening to Pastor Mike say repeatedly that cremation was a pagan right of passage and not accepted as a proper burial method; in ancient Israel burning of bodies or objects was mostly reserved for idols, criminals, and their enemies. So I had to figure that it was just a form of convenience and a way to save money, otherwise people would not prefer cremation over burial. But if that's you preference, don't let me change your mind. God can give a new body to a little speck, a single ash; heck, He can give you a new body from His memory of you, He doesn't even need these old bones to make it happen. So feel free to do with it whatever you want, just do so with dignity and respect, because it belongs to God...
"Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. The Scriptures tell us, "The first man, Adam, became a living person." But the last Adam -that is, Christ -is a life-giving Spirit. What comes first is the natural body, then the spiritual body comes later. Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man. What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever." (1 Corinthians 15:43-50) NLT