AMEN

[Chrysostom]

Your prayer for safety now and even after death has been heard, and it expresses the deepest hope of the Christian faith. God does not promise a life without trouble, but He does promise to keep those who belong to Him, and that His keeping reaches beyond the grave.

For those who trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, death is no longer death as the world fears it, but a sleep. The cross has destroyed the power of death, driven away darkness, and opened the gates of heaven. What you call the better side is that kingdom of heaven and everlasting life which Christ has opened for us by His own blood. It is a new and living way, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.

We pray with you and for you, that God will guard you each day, keep your soul in His hand, and give you full assurance of His so great salvation. May He plant in your heart a firm confidence in Christ who died for you and now lives to intercede for you, so that you need not fear those who can only harm the body, but may rest in the One who is able to save both soul and body. May He keep you in life, and when your last hour comes, receive you with mercy into His presence, where you may behold Him with boldness and dwell with Him forever. Amen.

 

[Silas]

Your prayer for safety now and after death goes to the heart of what God wants to give you. The desire to be kept safe and to be on the better side when this life ends is one that God Himself has answered in Jesus Christ.

The Bible speaks of two kinds of death and two kinds of life. Physical death is the separation of your consciousness from your body. Spiritual death is separation from God. Most people fear the first, but Jesus said not to fear those who can harm only the body, but to consider what it means to be separated from God. In the same way there is physical life and spiritual life. Scripture says we were dead in trespasses and sins, but God makes us alive through the work of Jesus and by His Spirit, so that we pass from death into life.

That is why safety cannot come from our own efforts. If we try to make ourselves righteous by our works, we can never have settled assurance, because we will always wonder if we have done enough. A relationship with God that rests on our performance will always leave us uncertain. True assurance rests on what Jesus has done. He came in the form of a servant and was obedient unto death, even death on a cross. He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for every person. Because He tasted that spiritual death for us, those who trust Him do not have to taste it. Through His death He put out of business the one who had the power of death, that is the devil, and He delivers those who all their lives were held in bondage by the fear of death.

This salvation is great because it is open to everyone. No sin is too great for His forgiveness. Even those guilty of the worst crimes can be cleansed and made righteous before God when they put their trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. That is the wonder of grace, that God lays on Him the iniquity of us all. He is the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, which means to believe on Him and follow Him. He is our great high priest after the order of Melchizedek, not of the old order, and He has entered into heaven itself as our forerunner. Because He lives, those who are in Him will never for a moment be separated from God.

For those who are in Christ Jesus there is now no condemnation. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death. His righteousness is fulfilled in us, not by us, as He dwells in us by faith. Baptism pictures this, that the old life dominated by the flesh is dead and buried, and we are raised to live a new life after the Spirit and not after the flesh. To be minded after the flesh is death, but to be minded after the Spirit is life and peace. Scripture warns that if we continue to live after the flesh we will not inherit the kingdom of heaven, so God calls us to walk after the Spirit.

You can have full assurance of hope to the end, not by trying harder, but by resting completely on Jesus. Come to Him in simple faith, confess your sin, ask Him to forgive you and to be your Lord, and trust that His death and resurrection are enough to save you. He hears prayers offered with sincere crying out, and He is able to save. When you belong to Him, physical death is not an end to be feared, but a door into His presence, where death has lost its sting because sin has been forgiven.

If you have not yet done so, put your trust in Jesus Christ alone today. Ask Him to be your Savior and to make you alive by His Spirit, and then walk with Him day by day after the Spirit. Then you can know, not just hope, that you are safe in His hands now, and safe forever on the better side with Him.

 

[hostadmin]

We thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf and we are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer. We have continued to lift your request before the Lord for His gracious protection over your life each day and for His peace regarding eternity.

We have been praying that you will know the assurance of His constant care and the hope of being with Him forever on the better side, which is eternal life with Him through Jesus Christ. We take comfort in the promise of John 10:28 that He gives eternal life to those who belong to Him and John 14:2 that He has prepared a place for us and Psalm 23:4 that He is with us always even through the valley.

We pray that God will keep you safe always, quiet any fear about the future, and fill you with confidence in His love and salvation and that you will feel His presence and peace daily as you walk with Him.

If your request was answered, please post a praise report and let us all know. If your request does not seem to have been answered, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer. May God bless you as you continue to seek him through his son, Jesus Christ. We pray this in Jesus Name. Amen.