notice the colon after the phrase “and the dead in Christ shall rise first:” That means there is a small pause … “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds.” But does it really mean the saints will be up in the clouds with Jesus waiting for our ascent? Or will it happen this way … like in Matt 27:52 - 53 52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, 53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. So will our loved ones appear to us and then we are “caught up together with them” in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air? Ah, great minds.... I began decorating Sat. I got down some pretty Christmas decorations & I bought 2 beautiful pots of silk poinsettia's at our thrift store. Yep I love Christmas alright and I do not think we'll be here on this earth by then. Oh I almost forgot, O Holy Night has been stuck in my head and over and over I hum, 'the thrill of hope the weary world rejoices. For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn...' :whistle: Come Lord Jesus, come now Patricia why doesn't your husband want you to install it? So just as when a believer lives and dies - we are transformed out of this body of death “clothing” into a new form in an instant. God does not work in steps … His transforming power is instantaneous, just as in our salvation by faith — We are saved, are being saved and forever saved…. 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. Therefor, 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. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” Philippians 3:20-21 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. My thought is that as he said The Lord will be in the heavens, with a cry of command (trumpet of God), the dead will rise first and and we are right behind them and in that “twinkle” we are eternally transformed. My opinion and I am sticking to it :yahoo: — I for one can not wait to be rid of this body of death and have a glorified heavenly, eternal body … it will be so much more than we can imagine - 1 Cor 2:9 “But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” — this goes for the whole enchilada folks ….. we have a awesome Father! :yahoo: :prayer-hands: Nice! :good: And speaking about enchilada … I found my mom’s old sampler she made back in the 1970’s. I was pondering the verse … And God said, Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth” and some of the herbs listed are … Tarragon, sage, oregano, rosemary, chervil, mustard, thyme, chives, basil, marjoram, parsley, dill, mint, savory So … that had me thinking surely we can still have our favorite dishes in the next life and the herbs will still be available to spice up those dishes whether its Italian, Mexican, Jewish, French cuisines, etc. Or will it only be angel’s food … manna? Any thoughts on this?
