John 11:25 Contemporary English Version
25 Jesus then said, “I am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die.”
It has been 18 years since my prostate cancer was diagnosed. The cancer has subsided and then reared its ugly head several times over those years. Currently it is in remission, for which I am very thankful. If there is one thing the cancer has taught me, it is that when cancer goes into remission it will return. So, I don’t use the word “Cure.”
Throughout this period, I have had an almost strange calmness. I have told myself several times, Wil, you have lived a good life! You have many promises from God’s word that after you die you shall live again. I think this has been a continuing reassurance to me. However, I am fully aware that I shall die.
The Word has promised that before Christ comes, there will a time of trouble “such as never was since there was a nation”.[2] I invite you to look back over the times of trouble that have occurred. Millions have been driven from their homes and had their homes destroyed. They have suffered with no clothes in the severest of weather. They have had little or nothing to eat or drink. They have been totally homeless with no one who cares for them. Many times, their corpses have lain where they have fallen. Remember the killing fields in Cambodia and the gas chambers of Auschwitz.
Being an old man, I shall not endure the time of trouble for long, not long enough to see the coming of Christ. That is why I treasure Christ’s promise that he will raise me to life!
I invite you, dear Reader, to accept Christ’s offer of life and salvation that is offered to us free and without any merit of ours. You may ask, “Do you have any concrete evidence of the validity of his promise?” Yes, the evidence that He has stood by me for these long years and fulfilled my every need upon request. If you choose to remain skeptical, you not only lose out, but you also fulfill prophecy that there will be scoffers in the last days.[3]
Dear Lord, grant Your Peace to each person who reads this blog knowing that they, too, are included in Your promise.
[2] Daniel 12:1
[3] 2 Peter 3: 3-4. But first you must realize that in the last days some people won't think about anything except their own selfish desires. They will make fun of you 4 and say, “Didn't your Lord promise to come back? Yet the first leaders have already died, and the world hasn't changed a bit.”
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