He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity. (KJV)

He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity. (NKJV)

I read of, and hear of many more, people who become angry with God, if they have to suffer a bit. And certainly so when they lose a loved one, on and on. Why Me Lord? That is a really foolish attitude for one to take. Everybody suffers! Everybody loses loved ones! That is because everyone is subject to the same natural laws. And you (or me) are not about to be an exception. I've seen my parents die, all of my siblings, except one, have died. Each time it hurt enormously. But I have yet to say, "Why Me, Lord?"

I do acknowledge that I failed for many years to give God the thanks that I should have. When a loved one has died, I should have said, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." But there are so many things that we should be thankful for that we ought to be ashamed of ourselves for failing to do so. But one thing that I am most thankful for is that, "God is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentence." He gave me life to live through my negligent years.

I retired at age 67 and he has blessed me with 10 years of good health while I have earnestly tried to make up to Him for those many slack years. For that, I am most thankful and I know that I must not blow this opportunity.

If you went to bed last night with a full stomach, not afraid of being killed by someone, warm and cozy, be extremely thankful. Many little children did not have those blessings. The next time you have a delightful meal at a nice restaurant, more than you can eat, and leave half of it. Think of the many small orphans who were crying themselves to sleep, cold and hungry. And our consciences are clear! We can always say, "Well, we can't feed the world." And that is true. But we could help a little bit.

Not many people want to enter into this subject but it needs to be clarified. Few, if any, humans can reach a reasonable understanding of eternal life in an environment totally void of anything physical. I have spent years of studying and meditating upon the subject and yet, I do not profess to be an authority on it. What little anyone knows concerning this is contained in the Holy Bible and by isolating those passages and analyzing them to the best of our ability, we are able to come up with some few solid answers, some apparent answers and some questions which we cannot answer. Very little of it can be understood without much study and meditation.

Some thirty years ago, I was conducting some Bible studies with a young couple in their home when Matthew 22:30 came into our conversation. It says, For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven". The young man asked me if that was a literal statement and when I answered in the affirmative, he and his wife requested that we discontinue the studies. Although I attempted to discuss it with them, they both agreed that they were not interested in going to heaven. I tried to explain that the alternative would not be any different in that respect. It bothered me very much and I made several efforts to continue our studies, but without success. The young man died from cancer a few years ago. Their decision, I fear, assured them that their rejection would be honored. But this case caused me to spend a lot of time in study, meditation and prayer over the subject.

Life in our physical bodies is governed and, to a large extent, sustained by our physical urges and desires. Our craving for food and water keeps us furnished with nutrition to maintain health. Our sexual desires are twofold, neither of which is supposed to be ‘just fun', but to express our love toward our mate and foremost, for procreation to replenish life. But regardless of their purpose, they are physical urges and cravings. So let's examine a few passages of scripture to see what we can determine.

The Christians in Thessalonica, not fully understanding, were concerned over those of their brethren who had died before the return of Jesus, that they would have missed out on heaven. But the apostle Paul reassures them in 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"

Many people have the feeling that leaving this life and entering into eternity will simply be like moving from one country to another with little change other than they have been told that all suffering, pain and sorrow will be over. That just isn't true. Everything we are now accustomed to will be drastically changed. Read this: "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10)

"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." (1 Corinthians 15:50)

"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: (1 Corinthians 15:42)

The verses above, when considered and analyzed, show us that there will be absolutely nothing physical existing after this final day. Nothing! Even the very most miniscule of elements. So the idea of living in a new physical body made of titanium or something is out the window. There will be no physical body because EVERYTHING physical is corruptible. So our dilemma now is how may we exist at all? If we give our imagination the loose rein, we can work out considerable factors concerning our soul which is our spirit. Spirits do not die. How do I know that? Because there is nothing physical about them. Death is a separation. Physical death occurs when our spirit is separated from our body. Our body decays, the spirit never decays or deteriorates. It cannot die.

So let us discuss the gender factor. What constitutes gender? The difference in gender is of physical characteristics. Organs, genes, hormones and so on, were created differently to form two unique people for companionship and procreation. Without these physical characteristics and features, there is no gender. No sex, no sexual desires or urges. God created humans with sexual desires and pleasure for the purpose of enhancing the love between married couples and to replenish the earth. It was intended solely for the marriage bed although that has been ignored by man almost from the beginning of time. It is my estimate now that there is more sexual activity between unmarried people than married.

But what type of situation will life be without sexual activity or desires? The couple mentioned in our second paragraph undoubtedly felt that such was more important than life itself. They also acted as if they had a choice, and that rejecting heaven would give them the opportunity to live under circumstances where sex was not absent. But sex is not all encompassing, not all powerful. Life does not end because of no sex. There are people who never engaged in sexual activity during their entire lives, and yet they lived a happy life. The best part of all though, in heaven it will be of no importance whatsoever. There will be no desire. And there are many things that we know of that will make our lives ecstatic. First, we will immediately realize that we have escaped the everlasting torment of hell. Secondly, we will have no fear of death at all because we will know that we are never to die. We will no longer have pain, sickness, fatigue, or heartache. We do not know what all is in store for us there but as I have often said, our Heavenly Father is omnipotent, omniscient and wants us to be happy. So with a combination like that, who can question that he will furnish us with everything we need to be happy. And so shall we ever be with the Lord.

I never expected to see the day when girls would get sunburned in the places they do today...Will Rogers