December 30, 2020 CAC Living Water Devotional : Topic – THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS
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LIVING WATER CAC DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS
Read: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
MEMORISE:
Let me die the death of righteous, and let my end be like his! (Numbers 23:10b)
EXPOSITION
Literally, to be righteous means to be morally right and good (Gen. 38:25,26). However, righteousness is beyond morality. It involves total belief in God, and being obedient to His Word and commandments. The Bible says, No one is righteous. Anyone that God adjudges righteous has not reached that state by his personal efforts or work of morality but by God’s grace. God reckoned Abraham’s faith in Him as righteousness. The righteousness of Jesus is what God is seeing in all the believers in Christ. Hence, no one should adorn himself with the garb of self-righteousness or holier-than-thou attitude (Gen. 15:1-6; Isa. 54:17; Jer. 23:6; 1 Cor. 1:30).
While death is “dying or being killed, the end of one’s existence here on earth. Or the state of being dead, permanent end or destruction of something… the power that destroys life,” the death of the righteous is how the scripture describes death in the life of those who live their lives in line with biblical injunctions, i.e. God’s will. It is said to be peaceful or blissful, however it comes. Angels are usually on ground to welcome and transport the righteous from this world of sorrow to the blissful bosom of Abraham – the home of the saints. Such are ceased from engaging in battles and struggles of this world. It is a passage into eternal rest. The death of the righteous is precious in God’s sight. It makes them to be at home with God. By it, they put away this earthly tabernacle and are transfigured from corruption to incorruptibility, mortality to immortality (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 2 Pet. 2:12-14; Jn. 21:18-19).
Balaam, the prophet, who aided the enemy to bring calamity upon God’s people because of the godless gain and who died with the heathen as a reward of his ungodliness, sought this noble experience, but God wouldn’t grant his wishes, because he didn’t live the life of the righteous (Num. 31:1-8). No one die the death of the righteous who has not lived the life of righteousness in Christ alone.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for destroying the power of death over me through Your triumphant and victorious death on the Cross.
2. I refuse to cooperate with the devil in my life journey, in Jesus’ name, so that I might not end up where Satan would end his life.
3. Pray for the aged that they would be more concerned with their last moments on earth when they would be translated into immortality, so that they won’t regret in the end.