TEARS
No one loves tears or enjoys crying! Did you know that one day God will wipe away ALL tears?
We are living in a world today that is familiar with tears, and we experience again and again what it means to shed tears. As human beings each one of us experience what it means to be in tears - in one way or another, for one reason or the other. We cry for many and varied reasons, but mostly because of SIN. Just as soon as the first man and wife on this earth sinned, death came, and with death came tears. There is not a single person in this world that does not experience this. Even our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in His incarnation suffered tears.
We have all surely come across the verse in the Scriptures that reads: “Jesus wept” – see John 11:35. This was in the connection with the death of His friend Lazarus. We also read the following in Hebrews 5:7: “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One Who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission.” In fact this portion of Scripture is much more profound than fear of death. We must try and grasp the truth that the cause of death is sin. In other words, our Lord suffered when He was tempted to sin. In the same book, namely Hebrews, we can read that it is for this reason He suffered…. “in bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the Author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Look at verse 18 of Hebrews 2:10-18.. “Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.” Read all the verses.
The word “tempt” should be understood as a test or trial. In the same book of Hebrews, in Chapter 12, we can read how our Lord was put through testing, and how He triumphed over death on a shameful cross. Then we here in the Antilles and around the world should are exhorted to consider the hostility that our Lord suffered at the hand of sinners, and not lose courage in our battle against sin. The will of our Heavenly Father is for us to encourage one another through the love of God shed abroad in our hearts, through His Holy Spirit given to us as a seal of our redemption.
Remember dear ones in Christ, that SOON, and very SOON our Lord will wipe away ALL tears from our eyes. There will be no more death, nor mourning, or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Read Revelation 21:1-8.
God willing, we will write a little more on this topic in our next Blog. Remember our Email- bettyvicenteaw@yahoo.com and write us a note, or make your comments on Facebook. All are appreciated: we learn, and we are encouraged. So until next time… B&B Henriquez

TEARS
In our previous blog we spoke about “TEARS” and what the Scriptures say about tears. We mentioned that even our Lord Jesus Christ shed tears during his public ministry while He was here on this earth in a human body. And this was especially when He was being tempted by Satan to sin and disobey God. We are living today in what the Scriptures call the “last days” – days just before the return of our Lord for His saints. We are exhorted by the Apostles, but especially so by the Apostle Paul who warns us of very terrible and difficult days ahead of us. “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Beloved friends, these words were written more than two thousand years ago, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. Pablo mentions that these kinds of people had a form of godliness, but denied its power. The question which each one of us needs to ask ourselves is this: Do we have this kind of form of godliness and denying of its power here in Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire, and other parts of the world? The answer is simple and clear for us in the Scriptures: saying we are living (then already) in the last days, how much more so now? Open any newspaper today, and you can see and read how we are drifting away from the truth!
Our Lord, who authorized the Apostles to proclaim the Good News of forgiveness and eternal life, warned of the falling away from the faith, and note especially that the Scriptures say “the faith”. This is happening on our islands this very day and around the world – O how much religiosity there is! What outward kind of godliness! Is there any power, any change in our lifestyle? Are we new creatures in Christ? When the Scriptures speak of “the faith”, it speaks of something very unique. This faith is inseparable from the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We are speaking of a personal faith on the part of a sinner (you and I) in the One Who died in our place, paid our death penalty for sin, and was resurrected on the third day. And this faith comes from hearing and obeying the Gospel by the help of the Holy Spirit of God. That is why we are being warned in the Scriptures to not allow our hearts to be hardened towards the Good News that comes from God Himself.
Friends, it is only possible through Jesus Christ that we can be reconciled back to a Holy God. The Scriptures talk about tears of repentance.(2 Cor. 7:10; Job 42:6). Oh that our tears today will be tears of repentance, and faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Remember this: our days are short, death can visit unexpectedly – yes, that is a fact. Therefore, do not delay!

TEARS

No one loves tears or enjoys crying! Did you know that one day God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes?

We are living in a world today that is familiar with tears, and we experience again and again what it means to shed tears. As human beings, each one of us experience what it means to be "in tears" - for one reason or another! We cry for many and varios reasons:loss of a loved one, loss of a job, a friendshop, loss of money, posessions,etc., but mostly because of sin. Immediately after Adam & Eve sinned, this sin nature was passed on to all mankind, and with it tears and death.There is no one in this world that has not experienced sin, and seen death. Even our Lord Jesus Christ, in His human body wept, suffered and died.

We surely do remember the verse in Scripture that says, "Jesus wept" (John 11:35). Why did He weep? His dear friend Lazarus had died! And the home of Mary and Martha, where He often visited was in sadness: they were in tears! And Jesus also wept. In the book of Hebrews we also read the following: "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One Who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission." (Hebrews 5:7)

In fact this portion of Scripture is much more profound than just fear of death. We must try & fathom the depth of the truth, that the cause of death is sin. In other words, our Lord suffered when He was tempted to sin, to disobey God. In the same book of Hebrews we also read that it is for this reason He (Jesus) suffered... "in bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for Whom and through WHom everything exists, should make the Author of their salvation perfect through suffering. Look at verse 18 of Hebrews 2:10-18.."Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He was able to help those who are being temped." Take a moment to read all sixteen verses.

The word "tempt" should be understood as a test or trial. In the same book of Hebrews, in chapter twelve we read how our Lord was put through testing and how He triumphed over death on a shameful cross. Here in Aruba and the Antilles, yes, and around the world should be, and are exhorted to consider the hostility that our Lord suffered at the hand of sinners, was for us, and not to lose courage in the battle over death and sin. The will of our Heavenly Father is to encourage each and every one of us through His love shed abroad in our hearts, through the Holy Spirit given to us as a seal of our redemption.

Remember dear ones in Christ, that soon, and very soon our Lord will come and He will wipe away all our tears. There will be no more death, no more mourning or crying, or the suffering of pain and sorrow: for the old order of things has passed away! Praise His name forever! Read Revelation 21:1-8.

God willing, in our next blog we will write a little more about the topic "tears" - so until another time. Remember to share with us your thoughts, questions and trials, and together we can search the Scriptures for an answer. So until...