Roger and I have both entered what we call the Twilight Time in Life.  It’s a time when we have begun to realize in living color that our days here on earth are numbered.  We are most grateful that Father has seen fit to allow us more than our three score years and ten.  However, with each passing day we come to realize often that Heaven is looking closer and closer.  It’s not ‘out there’ someplace now.  It is very close…in our years and in our hearts.
The two of us talk together more and more about what it will be like there.  We reminisce about how wonderful it will be to see our loved ones who have gone before us; how miraculous it will be to finally meet Roger’s earthly Father, Lenard, for the first time and most importantly how wonderful it will be to finally see Jesus, our Lord, Savior and Dearest Friend who will personally introduce us to our Precious Heavenly Father.
Personally, for me, this Twilight Time of life causes me to reflect on my own life.  Questions of wonder fill my thoughts and the song lyrics by Steve Greene, “May All Who Come Behind Me Find Me Faithful” cross my lips in earnest prayer.
We’re pilgrims on the journey
Of the narrow road,
And those who’ve gone before us
Line the way.
Cheering on the faithful,
Encouraging the weary,
Their lives a stirring testament
To god’s sustaining grace.

Surrounded by so great
A cloud of witnesses,
Let us run the race
Not only for the prize,
But as those who’ve gone before us.
Let us leave to those behind us,
The heritage of faithfulness
Passed on thru godly lives.

O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion
Light their way.
May the footprints that we leave,
Lead them to believe,
And the lives we live
Inspire them to obey.
O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful.

After all our hopes and dreams
Have come and gone,
And our children sift thru all
We’ve left behind,
May the clues that they discover,
And the mem’ries they uncover,
Become the light that leads them,
To the road we each must find.

O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion
Light their way.
May the footprints that we leave,
Lead them to believe,
And the lives we live
Inspire them to obey.

O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful,
May the fire of our devotion
Light their way.
May the footprints that we leave,
Lead them to believe,
And the lives we live
Inspire them to obey.

O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful.
O may all who come behind us
Find us faithful.

This past week, we have experienced the loss of Beni Johnson, beloved wife of Pastor Bill Johnson, Bethel Church, Redding, CA.  This loss has caused Roger and I to both stop and lift Bill and the Johnson family up to the Lord and to realize that our time of personal loss of each other could soon come to us.  Of course, it is all in Father’s hands and in His timing, but these moments draw us to a sense of realization that we all will face death because it is a part of life.
We have had the privilege this afternoon to listen to Bill’s sermon this past Sunday morning just days after he lost his beloved Beni.  The thrust of his message was not about his loss, but about how he is called to handle his loss.  He said that he will never pass this way again in this life and that he has only one chance to choose how he will handle the loss.  The message is incredibly encouraging, thought provoking and scripturally based and has caused Roger and I too look at death and loss in a much more balanced way…the way the Father looks at this part of life here on earth.
I am going to leave you with the link to this 48-minute sermon.  I ask that you take time to listen to what Bill has to say even in his greatest moments of grief and loss.  Please have pen and paper available as you listen, because this message is filled with profound one-liners that are life changing.

Watch Sermon: Breaking the Bread of My Soul. What does it look like to mourn with hope? After a long battle with cancer, Beni Johnson went to be with Jesus on July 13, 2022. She is now fully alive and free. Bill Johnson shares this honest message on dealing with pain and loss, and the importance of grieving with hope. In times of grief, though our mind wants answers to many questions, what we really need is to be close to the Person of Jesus who comforts, loves us so much, and understands all things.
Breaking the Bread of My Soul – Bill Johnson (Full Sermon) | Bethel Church – YouTube