At Home With The Lord In Paradise

As soon as a child of God dies, his/her spirit immediately returns to God who gave it.

"For then the dust will return to the earth,

and the spirit will return to God

who gave it."

Ecclesiastes 12:7 (NLT)

When the thief of the Cross accepted Jesus as his Lord and Saviour, Jesus assured the thief He would see him in paradise that day.

"And Jesus replied, 

'I assure you, today you will be with Me 

in paradise."

Luke 23:43 (NLT)

Then when Jesus took His last breath on the Cross, He entrusted His spirit into His Heavenly Father's hands.

"Then Jesus shouted, 

'Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!'

And with those words

he breathed His last."

Luke 23:46 (NLT)

Later when Stephen was being stoned to death for his faith in God, he prayed to Jesus to receive his spirit.

"And they stoned him,

Stephen prayed,

'Lord Jesus, 

receive my spirit.'"

Acts 7:59 (NLT)

Those who are in Christ, can be fully confident that when we leave our earthly bodies, our spirits will be at home in paradise with the Lord!

"Yes, we are fully confident,

and we would rather be away

from these earthly bodies,

for then we will be at home

 with the Lord."

2 Corinthians 5:8 (NLT)

The Apostle Paul wanted to live on earth as long as he could, so he could bring more people to Jesus Christ, but he also longed to leave earth, so he could finally be with His beloved Lord and Saviour. Paul was torn between two desires, but the latter desire would be far better for him.

"But if I live,
I can do more fruitful work for Christ.
So I really don't know which is better.
I'm torn between two desires:
I long to go and be with Christ,
which would be far better for me."
Philippians 1:22-23 (NLT)

We may not have our heavenly bodies yet when we die, but we will still be very much alive enjoying the presence of God and living with Him in paradise. And we know one thing for sure, that would be far better for us than living here!