Going to the Lions

Last night I dreamed that I was one of the Christians being sent to the lions. It was bizarre (as dreams are… we were in a swimming pool), but the emotional effect still lingered with me when I woke up.

What good is God when you’re staring death in the face? What does He offer for the last moments of life-whether the end comes by lions, cancer, a firing squad, a car accident?

A few initial thoughts:

• “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones” (Psalm 116:15).
• “Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord—for we walk by faith, not by sight—we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8).
• “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the course; I have kept the faith. In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).
• “But I am had-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (Philippians 1:23).
• “To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7b).
• “And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).
• “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? Just as it is written, ‘For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:35-37… to be continued).
• “For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
• “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him” (Romans 5:9-10).
• “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is , the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” (Hebrews 2:14-15).
• “’O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57).

I may continue this theme down the road... The Bible is thick with promises for the end.