"I HAVE FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT, I HAVE FINISHED THE RACE, AND I HAVE REMAINED FAITHFUL. "AND NOW THE PRIZE AWAITS ME; THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS THAT THE LORD, "THE RIGHTEOUS JUDGE, WILL GIVE ME ON THAT GREAT DAY OF HIS RETURN. "AND THE PRIZE IS NOT JUST FOR ME BUT FOR ALL WHO EAGERLY LOOK FORWARD TO HIS GLORIOUS RETURN. 2 TIMOTHY 4:7-8 "
MEET ME IN HEAVEN!" was her dying charge. And then, when her lips were thought forever sealed; lips that had testified so long and so faithfully of Jesus; she exclaimed, with a voice of wondrous energy and power, "A CLOUDLESS DEATH! A CLOUDLESS DEATH! A CLOUDLESS DEATH! So resplendent was the glory now surrounding her; so sacred and awe-struck the feelings of all who gazed upon the scene; the spot where the last conflict was waging seemed more like the vestibule of heaven than the chamber of death.
While her gathered children were surrounding her dying bed, watching the closing scene, expecting each moment to catch her last sigh, her eyes partly opened, her lips moved, and with a low yet distinct voice she rapidly repeated the words, "I SEE YOU! I SEE YOU! I SEE YOU! I SEE YOU!" The unearthly grandeur of the scene transcends all description. We felt that heaven was opened; that Christ was there; that the eternal world enclosed us. And as her voice grew fainter and fainter, and the words died softly upon her lips, she ceased to move; a holy quiet reigned; a solemn calm ensued; her sanctified spirit was in the bosom of her Lord. From the mental emotion, the soul ecstasy through which she had but just passed; rapt in the vision of her living Lord; there still lingered a luster in the eye, a smile upon the parted lips, and a glow, like that of sunset, upon the countenance, which formed a picture of inimitable beauty and grandeur.
She has reached, at last, the heaven of glory, for which her panting thoughts and heaving heart so yearned. She has looked upon Christ, whom her soul adored with an affection so absorbing and intense. Glories which the human eye could never see; joys which human thought could never conceive, and music such as earth has never heard, have burst upon her astonished blissful spirit. At His feet who died for her, adoringly she casts her crown, exclaiming, "WORTHY IS THE LAMB!"
"Life In Jesus; The Memoirs and Correspondence of Mary Winslow by Octavius Winslow
FOOTNOTE: As beautiful as this account is, and I have heard other similar stories from friends who have lost believing loved ones, this is not necessarily the norm. Death is the last enemy to be defeated by our Lord Jesus and for some dear believing saints it is a torturous battle to the last breath. This is no reflection upon their spiritual condition, rather it is Satan's final attempt at inflicting his misery upon God's elect. So if your Christian loved one did not have such a blessed outburst of heavenly vision in those last moments as did our sister of yesteryear, please do not be discouraged dear one. We walk by faith and not by sight. If we love Christ, the glory will be revealed beyond the door. "- Diane"
Credit: alchemy-and-alchemists.blogspot.com
