Heavenly Father I praise You for the assurance You have given me that someday I will see You face to face and live in eternity where there will be no death, sorrow, pain, or sickness. I praise You for creating me with a purpose and making a way for me to make the choice to accept salvation.
Holy Spirit I ask that You would be with the family of my friend Jim as he crosses over to heaven. He was a faithful servant for You and these last few years he has suffered tremendously from Cancer. I ask that You would comfort his wife Pam and all of his children and grandchildren. I am grateful to have known Jim for quite a while and that he loved and served You with all that he was. I may not have seen eye to eye with him on some doctrinal issues, but I always knew he was Your child and that he would be with You someday.
Holy Spirit I praise You for the legacy that Jim has left behind for his children and their understanding of who You are and that salvation is available to them. I praise You for his witness in life, at work, church, and when he was out with friends. I praise You that his suffering is done and he will now be healed with a new body and never have to face death again. He has done his walk through the shadow of death and he can not hear You say my good and faithful servant.
Holy Spirit Your word says: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” “Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful but brimming with worship, deeply reverent, before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire! God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” [Hebrews 12:1&2; Hebrews 12:28&29 (The Message); Hebrews 13:5] Jim has run his race and done it well. He was not perfect, but he learned to live, speak and demonstrate Your Love. Let us carry on and do our due diligence to serve You, demonstrating Your love to a world that does not know or understand what love really is. May I someday see You again Jim, where we can live the way we were originally created to live. May God have mercy and compassion on Jim’s family as they continue to tarry here. Amen.