My steps are Known before I take them? Very weighty is the revelation that decisions are made here on Earth a minuscule part of my existence! After this; ‘Time’ as we know it ceases. The concept of ‘time’ is for the inhabitants of this pebble in the Universe. The observable universe spans some 28 billion light-years (93 billion light-years in diameter, as it is still expanding). It is home to about 10-billion superclusters (like the Virgo Supercluster).
I mention again what I am in comparison to the seen!
Quick Mind-boggling Math…
- The Earth is about 3.5 million times larger than a human.
- The Solar System is about 36 billion times larger than Earth (3.6 X 10^10).
- The Local Group is 5 million times larger than the Solar System (1.4 X 10^17 times larger than Earth)
- The Virgo Supercluster is 11 times larger than the Local Group (1.5 X 10^18 times larger than Earth
- The Pisces-Cetus Supercluster Complex is 12 times larger than the Virgo Supercluster (1.9 X 10^21 times larger than Earth)
- And Finally, the Observable Universe is 10 times larger than the Pisces-Cetus Supercluster Complex (1.9 X 10^22 times larger than Earth)
Questions are raised: “So what…?” “Is he on crack?” “He has lost his mind!” Granted, I would respond the same way (or even more profoundly) if I were to read/hear this from another person! What makes me different?
I have been blessed to study Medicine; be board certified in Surgery. Read and gain insight into a few things. Yes, I thought I read The Bible. AFTER my experience, I realize I was very, very superficial! The questions I pose here are to hopefully start a life altering mindset in you. Amazingly, Paul who wrote a significant portion of the New Testament was well read and studied. Yet, his purpose only came to be after his experience. Jesus’s post-resurrection appearance to Paul is described in detail in Acts 9:1–19; 22:6–16; and 26:12–23. Paul preached the death, resurrection, and Lordship of Jesus Christ, and he proclaimed that faith in Jesus guarantees a share in His life.
https://www.openbible.info/topics/order_my_steps
This brings things into stark clarity:
IF and when my delight is in The LORD, my path/steps are directed/led!
Big question: “why/who/what am I?” And we address our innermost thoughts/contemplation to our Beginning/Source: “For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You – my Reason, my Cause, my Creator, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; many a time we are lost in the wonders here on Earth; my soul knows it very well. Gazing out at the Universe, I am smitten by my insifignance.
Myvframe was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the Earth. Your Eyes saw my unformed substance; in Your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
https://www.openbible.info/topics/who_i_am
Pray without ceasing. You breathe, yes! Many have learned how to hold their breath for a prolonged period; can we still our hearts? Being fit we can drop our heart rate to significantly lower rates. But, we cannot stop the heart rate without consequences. Praying is the same!
We ALL have originated from somewhere. Death is inevitable! Yes, we have elderly individuals worldwide – A Venezuelan man has been recorded by the Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest living man. As of 17 May 2022, Juan Vincente Mora is a record-breaking 112 years and 355 days old, with his 113th birthday fast approaching.
Yet, pausation of ‘life’ is inevitable. Then what?
Within the Christian faith, there is a significant amount of confusion regarding what happens after death. Some hold that after death, everyone “sleeps” until the final judgment, after which everyone will be sent to heaven or hell. Others believe that at the moment of death, people are instantly judged and sent to their eternal destinations. Still others claim that when people die, their souls/spirits are sent to a “temporary” heaven or hell, to await the final resurrection, the final judgment, and then the finality of their eternal destination. So, what exactly does the Bible say happens after death?
First, for the believer in Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that after death believers’ souls/spirits are taken to heaven, because their sins are forgiven by having received Christ as Savior (John 3:16, 18, 36). For believers, death is to be “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:23). However, passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 describe believers being resurrected and given glorified bodies. If believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, what is the purpose of this resurrection? It seems that while the souls/spirits of believers go to be with Christ immediately after death, the physical body remains in the grave “sleeping.” At the resurrection of believers, the physical body is resurrected, glorified, and then reunited with the soul/spirit. This reunited and glorified body-soul-spirit will be the possession of believers for eternity in the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21-22).
Second, for those who do not receive Jesus Christ as Savior, death means everlasting punishment. However, similar to the destiny of believers, unbelievers also seem to be sent immediately to a temporary holding place, to await their final resurrection, judgment, and eternal destiny. Luke 16:22-23 describes a rich man being tormented immediately after death. Revelation 20:11-15 describes all the unbelieving dead being resurrected, judged at the great white throne, and then being cast into the lake of fire. Unbelievers, then, are not sent to hell (the lake of fire) immediately after death, but rather are in a temporary realm of judgment and condemnation. However, even though unbelievers are not instantly sent to the lake of fire, their immediate fate after death is not a pleasant one. The rich man cried out, “I am in agony in this fire” (Luke 16:24).
Therefore, after death, a person resides in either a place of comfort or in a place of torment. These realms act as a temporary “heaven” and a temporary “hell” until the resurrection. At that point, the soul is reunited with the body, but no one’s eternal destiny will change. The first resurrection is for the “blessed and holy” (Revelation 20:6)—everyone who is in Christ—and those who are part of the first resurrection will enter the millennial kingdom and, ultimately, the new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1). The other resurrection happens after Christ’s millennial kingdom, and it involves the wicked and unbelieving being “judged according to what they had done” (Revelation 20:13). These, whose names are not in the book of life, will be sent to the lake of fire to experience the “second death” (Revelation 20:14–15). The new earth and the lake of fire—these two destinations are final and eternal. People go to one or the other, based entirely on whether they have trusted Jesus Christ for salvation (Matthew 25:46; John 3:36).