What is life?

What is life?

 Our answer to this question will, to some extent, depend on what is on our mind when we are asked.
 Life has physical, emotional, relational and spiritual aspects and each of these will have an influence on our answer. Think about it for a moment. What does it mean to you, right now, to be alive?

 Is it enough to know that you are breathing, or must there be more, and if so, what more?

 What do people mean when they say,

 ‘I’m not living, I’m just existing’.

Still-Life with a Skull, vanitas painting. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As human beings, made in the image of God, our life is uniquely different from that of plants and other animals. How does this difference show in our daily lives? Surely the essence of our life is in the fact that we are made for eternity. Though eternity does not come straight unto us. When we die our life shall come to an end and everything of us shall decay or come to ashes in the incinerator.

At the moment of our death it will be to late to change anything. Than we will be to late to change direction or to take an other path. We shall be able to face death in peace when we do know we have lived according to the wishes of the Most High. Those who did not want to accept there is a God Creator of heaven and earth should in a way not be afraid either, but with many of them we notice they fear death. Why?

Those who believe in other things than described in the Bible may be taken by fear, because when they believe in false gods and in false beings like certain demons and devils and places of torture, the could have reason to be afraid.

Those who know the Bible do know that when we live it is important to treat all living organisms with respect, because they all are a creation of the Most High Elohim. And all creation of God, be it humans or animals shall come to the same end — humans die, animals die. also plants shall have there time of growing and flowering, but afterwards they will die and decay.
 We all breathe the same air. So there’s really no advantage in being human. None. Everything’s smoke. We all end up in the same place — we all came from dust, we all end up as dust. We as the living should at least know something, even if it’s only that we’re going to die. But the dead know nothing and get nothing. They’re a minus that no one remembers.

“19 after all, the same things that happen to people happen to animals, the very same thing—just as the one dies, so does the other. yes, their breath is the same; so that humans are no better than animals; since nothing matters, anyway. 20 they all go to the same place; they all come from dust, and they all return to dust.” (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 CJB)

 “for the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; there is no longer any reward for them, because all memory of them is lost.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5 CJB)

When we live it is the time to make the right choices. In life it is the time given us by the Creator to make something if our 'being' 'our soul'. The 'soul' is not something extra special in our material form, it is our total being that can breath and as soon as we stop breathing we shall be considered to be part of the dead.
Therefore we better take life as it comes our way and whatever turns up, we better grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it, For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed. When more people would read the Bible they would know that we are just mere humans who don’t have what it takes when they die, their projects die with them.

 “whatever task comes your way to do, do it with all your strength; because in sh’ol, where you will go, there is neither working nor planning, neither knowledge nor wisdom.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10 CJB)

 “when they breathe their last, they return to dust; on that very day all their plans are gone.” (Psalms 146:4 CJB)

So, why are atheists afraid when they die or why should believers be afraid when they die? the non-believer knows when he dies it shall be finished 'and that is it'. why should he worry when he knows the outcome of death?

And why should a believer worry. When he dies and becomes dust like everybody, why should he worry? By death we have paid the penalty for our sins. 

But those who believe in Christ Jesus, the son of God, who died (whilst God can not die) and was resurrected from death and taken out of the dead, they know they can find an example in what God did with Christ Jesus and can do with us. Believers in Christ also do know he was lower than angels, but was made higher by his Father, Who is, was, and shall always be the Most High. Believers trust that God took Jesus, the son of man, with Him in heaven, to sit at His right hand to become a mediator between man and God.

“he gave him no inheritance in it, not even space for one foot; yet he promised to give it to him as a possession and to his descendants after him, even though at the time he was childless.” (Acts 7:5 CJB)

 “for god is one; and there is but one mediator between god and humanity, Yeshua the Messiah, himself human,” (1 Timothy 2:5 CJB)

Yes, today we have a human preceding by God. He can talk for us and be our advocate, so that when Jesus shall return to the earth to judge the living and the dead, we would have a chance to become rightly judged and either to be placed by the living or by the dead, either to be allowed to enter the gate of the KiIngdom of God or to fall into the category for the Second death.
Than there shall come an end to death.

“he will swallow up death forever. ADONAI ELOHIM will wipe away the tears from every face, and he will remove from all the earth the disgrace his people suffer. for ADONAI has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:8 CJB)

“for what one earns from sin is death; but eternal life is what one receives as a free gift from god, in union with the Messiah Yeshua, our lord.” (Romans 6:23 CJB)

 “21 for since death came through a man, also the resurrection of the dead has come through a man. 22 for just as in connection with adam all die, so in connection with the Messiah all will be made alive. 23 but each in his own order: the Messiah is the firstfruits; then those who belong to the Messiah, at the time of his coming; 24 then the culmination, when he hands over the kingdom to god the father, after having put an end to every rulership, yes, to every authority and power. 25 for he has to rule until he puts all his enemies under his feet. 26 the last enemy to be done away with will be death,” (1 Corinthians 15:21-26 CJB)

“he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. there will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain; because the old order has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4 CJB)

So those who have faith in Christ do not have to worry when they die, as long as they made their best of their life.

What we become is the reality of what it means to us to be alive today. So, after all this, the question remains, what is life?

 I like the answer I read recently which twists a well known saying.

 ‘Life is doing what comes supernaturally.’ Let’s live!

Cover of Yes

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Please do read also:

1. Cosmos creator and human destiny
2. Choices
3. Always a choice 
4. We have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace 
5. A person is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses
6. Science, belief, denial and visibility 1
7. Science, belief, denial and visibility 2
8. Choose you this day whom ye will serve 
9. It is a free will choice 
10. For those who make other choices
11. Dying or not
12. What happens when we die?
13. The Soul confronted with Death
14. Dead and after
15. Destination of righteous
16. Destination of the earth
17. Sheol or the grave
18. Soul
19. The Soul not a ghost
20. Is there an Immortal soul
21. Human Nature: What does the Bible teach?
22. Immortality, eternality – onsterfelijkheid, eeuwigheid
23. How are the dead?
24. The soul has no rainbow if the eyes have no tears
25. Let not sin reign in your mortal body
26. We will all be changed

 +++

Find also of interest:

Never Take Resources For Granted!

The Vital Social Status versus The Vital Social Necessities

Choose A Positive Influence In Life

Beautiful Life…

 

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  +
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Tu B’Shvat, the holiday of the trees

If the did not celebrate it Wednesday evening and Thursday, Jews around the world will celebrate the holiday of u B’Shevat, Tu Bishvat, or Tu B’Shvat (15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat) tonight.And people wondered why we should celebrate the holiday of the tree.

The almond trees in Israel begin to shake blossoms out along their branches.
Across the globe this month Jewish communities are celebrating the holiday of Tu B’Shvat.  Many choose to commemorate the “New Year of The Trees” by planting pine trees in Israel.  Tu B’Shvat is a day that deals directly with the social inequality of our food system.  It’s a holiday that can inspire us to think about the free Gifts Jehovah God provides for humanity and it gives us the chance to think about His blessings and how we should use those blessings. This year you perhaps could also think about building community food security.

Savyon from the land of Israel (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When we look around us we can see very beautiful things in nature, though many do not notice them any more.God has created the plants and given the task to the people to name them and to take care of them. God promised that all the plants would be for the good of people and would offer food for men and animal. And normally all of the seed bearing trees would bring forth fruits free for all people. Though people made it that humans had to pay for it.

"And Elohim said, “See, I have given you every plant that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed, to you it is for food." (Beréshith - Genesis - Book of the Beginning 1:29 The Scriptures 1998+)

Also in Europe and North America the inhabitants can look forward to the new time coming soon. In Belgium from tomorrow Saturday the temperatures will rise, but we can notice already the sap in thee shrubs begining once again to flow through it.  The trees are ready to bring out green knobs and to let the Voice of the Most High sound through their branches. If you look carefully around you you will see heralding
the New Year for trees. The melting snow shall provide moisture for the trees and the sap will bring forth fruit in the spring. It is the day to pray for a beautiful esrog. The custom for Jews is to eat fruits in order to be able to say the blessings on the fruits on this day. הדר עץ פרי, a fruit of splendor, is gematria העץ פרי ברא, [Blessed are you Hashem] who created the fruit of the tree (they both equal 659). Have in mind to ask Elohim Hashem Jehovah for a gorgeous esrog when saying this blessing.

In the Mishnah, where Tu B’Shvat is found, the purpose of the holiday is to make a single day in which our produce is taxed and given to the community. It’s based from a single line of Torah: “At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall lay it up inside your gates; And the Levite, because he has no part nor inheritance with you, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are inside your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied.“ (Debarim - Deuteronomy 14:28).

The Torah also says that "man is a tree in the field."We should come forth from good seed and bring forth good fruits.When we bring none, not enough or no good fruits we would be of no use.

God has plated the seed in Abraham to make Him a people. And God His Wishes shall always come true. So out of Aḇraham shall come forth the fruit of a blessed people because יהוה {Jehovah}appeared to him  and said, “I am the Elohim of your father Aḇraham. Do not fear, for I am with you, and shall bless you and increase your seed for My servant Aḇraham’s sake.”.(Beréshith - Genesis - Book of the Beginning 26: 23-24)
The Creator told His chosen people how He was to be called and that His Name and Works should be known all over the world. Those Works we can still see every day, because Jehovah God did not end Creating.


In the Land of Israel, several people are already happily celebrating Tu B’Shvat, the holiday of the trees. School children sing songs praising the Land of Israel and thanking Hashem for its fruits. Bus loads of students and families go on field trips throughout the country, and saplings are planted with great joy and spirit. And a festive meal of thanksgiving, highlighted by a cornucopia of fruits of the Land, will grace our tables on Shabbat.

Tzvi Fishman  writes about this special day and looks at Eretz Yisrael. According to him without Israel the Torah is a shrunken, truncated, mini-version of the complete Torah of Eretz Yisrael. Two-thirds of the Mishna deals with laws that can only be performed in Israel. Without Eretz Yisrael, God Himself is reduced to a second-string diety, seemingly not strong enough to keep His Chosen People in the Land He gave them, for there is no greater desecration of the Name of God than when the Jewish People are scattered in exile amongst the goyim (Ezekiel, 36:20). Without Eretz Yisrael, there is no prophecy, no Beit HaMikdash, and the Divine Presence doesn’t appear in the world.

Kaliv Hasidim celebrating Tu B'Shvat in Jerusalem.
Photo Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

The hunger in our cities resonates because everywhere we can see more poverty. We do not have to go far away form our own dinner-table to see the food crisis which is also a spiritual crisis. On this Tu B’Shvat, let’s reinvigorate the holiday’s original purpose, by doing our part to make hunger relief healthier, more respectful and more in line with our shared values.
Those who are fortunate to have an abundance of produce year-round could perhaps take time to think of those in need and provide for them.
Tu B’Shvat is an opportunity to more closely examine hunger and how to respond most effectively to ensure that hungry people have access to nutritious, healthy foods.

Read:

What’s the Point of Celebrating Tu B’Shvat in Exile?

Celebrate Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the Trees

 

Fruits and vegetables (Photo credit: nutrilover)

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Zorg dragen voor moeder natuur

Willen wij moeite doen om de aarde goed te verzorgen? Is het ook geen kwestie van hoe ze te behandelen en uit te kijken waar anderen ze kunnen vernielen?

De mens is in staat om veel delen van zijn omgeving te vernietigen. Soms schijnt hij niet bewust te zijn dat hij de natuur vernietigt. Het lijkt wel of hij er geen idee van heeft welk een invloed hij heeft op zijn omgeving. Indien de aarde onvermijdelijk is, als zonde ons kan vernietigen, hoe kunnen dan onze verkeerde daden anderen of andere dingen niet vernietigen? Zijn het niet dikwijls door handelingen van mensen dat er iets vernietigd wordt in de natuur of dat er rampen over hen komen tengevolge van een drastisch ingrijpen in de natuur.

De mens zou er zich meer bewust van moeten zijn dat hij de aarde slechts in leen heeft gekregen van de Schepper. Alsook zou hij moeten opletten dat noch hij noch een ander deze aarde naar haar vernietiging brengt.

De mens heeft de mogelijkheid ontvangen om meester van deze aarde te zijn, dat betekent dat hij zelf er voor kan zorgen en de juiste beslissingen mag nemen. Maar het betekent niet dat hij er een dictator over moet spelen.

Wij moeten eerst en vooral zorg dragen over onszelf en vervolgens over de anderen en over onze gehele omgeving, dat is mens, dier en plant. Het is een heel moeilijke taak om tot perfectie te komen, maar dat is wat wij zouden moeten proberen te doen. Zelfs als wij nooit de gehele perfectie kunnen bereiken. Dat feit ontslaat ons er niet van om te praten over de hoge standaard voor ons en van het morele perspectief van God. Wij zouden van de instructies, die door God in Zijn Woord worden gegeven, moeten weten dat God een moreel perspectief heeft. Het idee van het verzorgen van elkaar en voor onze plaats op de aarde beweegt ons van een op een beloning gebaseerd geloof naar een plaats waar wij goed doen voor het goede belang of het belang van God.

O wij nu een kleine positie of een hoge plaats hebben in onze gemeenschap moeten wij onze verantwoordelijkheid opnemen.

U kunt lezen hoe een Koninklijk Huis probeert de natuur in goede banen te houden:

Koninklijke, minibusjes en omgeving >

Royals, mini busses and environment

Als een wereldse niet politieke groep van individuele Christenen die op de terugkeer van de Heer Jezus Christus wachten staan wij er op om te willen zorgen voor natuur, de Creatie van de meeste Hoge.

Engelse versie / English version: Taking care of mother earth