Where is Prince now

Prince

 The untimely death of Prince Rogers Nelson aka Prince shocked the world. Fans, friends, fellow entertainers, and even a president paid tribute to The Artist who touched so many lives in innumerable ways. Clearly, Prince was beloved by many. In the aftermath of his death, those who knew him talked about his genius and generosity, humility and compassion. No doubt Prince would be amused, and perhaps a bit embarrassed by all the attention. Prince enjoyed celebrity, but also cherished privacy. Surely, his death enhances one, and makes the other much more difficult.
When someone dies, whether famous or not, it hits close to home because it reinforces the inevitability of our own death at some point, or that of someone close to us. It's natural to try to ease the pain death causes by imagining the deceased person peacefully resting in a perpetual state.

She’s an angel now or God needed another angel in heaven. He’s in a better place or resting in peace (R.I.P.).—GotQuestions.org

Those who mourn Prince's passing are wishing the same things for him. Naturally, we  have no way of knowing if our assumptions about his other worldly whereabouts are true, unless we know what Prince himself believed. This is what we do know. As a child, Prince was raised by his grandmother in the Seventh Day Adventist tradition. Adventist Christians believe in what the bible says about death. 

Death is an unconscious state for all people. When Christ, who is our life, appears, the resurrected righteous and the living righteous will be glorified and caught up to meet their Lord.

Growing up as an Adventist meant that Prince was exposed to teachings that life after death, and a peaceful rest are certainties for anyone who believes in Jesus Christ as his Savior.
In 2001, the adult Prince converted to Jehovah's Witnesses after being recruited by fellow musician and friend Larry Graham. Prince took his new faith seriously, and often spoke about its influence on his beliefs, and his life.

You've gotta have belief, It's the only way to make it through this maze. And God is here, he's everywhere, he ain't dead, contrary to popular opinion. And he will come again and it will be the most beautiful, powerful, electric moment, the sky's gonna go all purple and red.—Prince

The Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine that Prince embraced later in life also shaped his beliefs about heaven and hell, Jesus Christ, salvation and life after death. What Jehovah Witnesses believe about death is very different from Prince's former Christian upbringing.

Jehovah’s Witnesses deny that man has a soul or spirit that has conscious existence after death. To Jehovah’s Witnesses, the word “soul” is interchangeable with the word “human.” They don’t believe that humans possess souls which are separate and distinct from the body; rather, they maintain that humans are souls. This explains why Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that a person ceases to exist after they die.—Hank Hanegraaff

In contrast, Christians believe death is a stepping stone to eternal life for anyone who believes in God's son, Jesus Christ. And that everyone gets the opportunity to decide where they'll spend eternity before they die.

God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. John 3:16 CEV

I believe Prince knew he was dying as he lay on that elevator floor. Based on having seen others nearing death, I also believe that Prince wasn't alone in the natural sense when he died. I believe before his last breath, Prince was given one final chance to choose where he would spend his eternity. One can only hope that he made the one and only choice that would assure him of true rest and peace with God.

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Put this in writing. From now on, the Lord will bless everyone who has faith in him when they die...they will rest from their hard work, and they will be rewarded for what they have done.”—Revelation 14:13 CEV

Learn to appreciate what God has given you

Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise Give thanks to Him, bless His name. - Psalm 100:4

I remember when I was just about eight years old sitting down to dinner at my Grandmother's house. The table was set with her special Devon Cottage dinner plates with their distinctive blue floral pattern. As Grandma stood stirring pots on the stove, I remember being really hungry that day and couldn't wait to get a taste of her home cooking. While she was still at the stove, Grandma called out to me: "Carolyn, say the grace." Something we did before every meal in her house. Looking down at my empty plate and then,  back at my grandmother, I responded, "But Grandma, there's no food on the plate?" My youthful observation made Grandma laugh, but I learned a lesson that day that you don't always have to see God's blessings to be thankful for them. Even though no food was on the plate, I knew I would eat that day, and that in itself was reason to be thankful.

Nowadays, people take so much for granted. For a nation that has been so enormously blessed by God, America is moving toward a society that feels God no longer has a place in its national life. Whole towns and communities have gone so far as to outlaw public mention of God or any expression of Christian traditions and symbols. We're fast becoming an ungrateful nation.

And what about you? How thankful are you for what God has given you? Perhaps you're living in the lap of luxury with no need of anything. You can thank God for blessing you with wealth. Even if you're facing an empty plate right now, you can be thankful for having a plate— trusting God to supply the food. The scriptures tells us that the Lord "will never leave us or forsake us" (Hebrews 13:5). Years ago, I was an eight year old kid saying grace over an empty plate, and from that day to this, I have never gone hungry or had to wonder where my next meal was coming from.

God's faithfulness extends to every aspect of the believer's life because he cares that much for us. As a matter of fact, And not only that God's blessings extend to those who don't believe. Learn to appreciate what God has given you. You can depend on God to always keep His promises.

Help me, my life's a mess

"Decide what you need to live simply and get rid of the rest."

Life gets messy at times, especially when you clutter it with too many things — possessions, obligations, commitments, and even people. And if you're not careful, the clutter can spread to your thinking and emotions in the form of  bad thoughts, including past hurts, grievances, traumas, anger, hatred, negative emotions, disappointments, broken promises and unconfessed sin. Before too long, you'll find yourself buried under their weight. You look for help to move this mountain. But "Who will help me," you ask?

Naturally, your first thought might be to ask a friend or family member for help. But they have their own problems and can't or won't lift a finger to help you solve yours. With no hope in sight, you reach a low point, ready to give up. But wait, when you think there's no hope, there's help available. Psalm 121 was written by a man who knows what it's like to be depressed and alone. He wrote:

I will lift up my eyes to the hills

From whence comes my help?

My help comes from the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 121)

This man knew that the only one who could help him is God. The answer for a messed up, mixed up, cluttered life is Jesus Christ. Comparing the life of Jesus, the bible says that Jesus never had a place to call home; his only possessions were the clothes on his back. And yet, he considered himself to be rich.

His wealth came from his close relationship with his father. God, the father, God the son, it doesn't get any closer. But, what's even more amazing is that Jesus sacrificed his life for our sins so that we could know that same closeness with God. Jesus came to remove the clutter of sin from our lives, so that we would know the freedom that comes with having our sins forgiven. Not only did Jesus clean up broken lives and heal broken bodies, he changed people's hearts and made them better. Look at what the scriptures say:

Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:16-18)

And you know the best part, you don't have to clean up your own life, or get rid of the clutter yourself or anything of the sort. He'll do it for you, if you ask him. Let Jesus clean up the clutter in your life. He'll forgive your sins, and give your life new meaning. Look up, it's where your help comes from.

Jesus, I need your help. I know I messed things up and I am sorry. Please forgive me. I open my heart up to you. I want you to take control of the clutter in my life. I believe you are the son of God who died on the cross for my sins. Please save me now. Come into my heart and life to be my Lord and Savior. 

 For help finding a Christian community in your area, contact peacewithgod.net

The value of having a good friend

After her last remaining friend died, I can remember my 89 year old grandmother saying to me, "All my friends are gone." I was just a child then, maybe no more than eight or nine years old, but I somehow sensed the significance of her statement as well as the sadness it caused her. Instinctively, I took hold of her hand, looked up at her and said, "Don't worry grandma, you'll always have me." Unfortunately, I lost my grandmother later that same year.

Friends serve an important purpose in our lives. The popular song, "That's What Friends Are For," celebrates friendship as something that endures in good times and bad with a kind of through thick and thin attitude that makes it both durable and dependable. Would it surprise you to know that having friends is good not just for the social benefits, but they are also good for your health. An Australian research study found that people with a large network of friends, who exert a positive influence on their lives, live longer than those with fewer or no friends.

Having a positive influence in your life is key. Most people tend to choose friends for the qualities that mesh well with their own. For example, someone who enjoys a quiet, peaceable, law abiding lifestyle would not pair well with someone who's a raucous, hard-drinking, social misfit unless he, too, wants to go down that road. It's a proven fact that the company you keep has a huge influence on you:

Do not be fooled. Bad companions ruin good character. -- 1 Corinthians 15:33

How many parents have preached that sermon to their children, only to have those children later admit, "If I'd only have listened to my parents."

Might not be such a bad idea to do a  friendship audit to access the nature and quality of your own friendships or lack thereof. Is your current friend status providing what you need to be the best person you can be? Do your friends exert a positive and stable influence on your life?  Are your friendships mutually satisfying and rewarding? Are you able to be honest, open and vulnerable with your friends and still be accepted? These qualities are meant to be reciprocal, of course.

Makes you wonder if the world would be a better place, a safer place, a more socially responsible place, and so on, if the practice of nurturing quality friendships was given more of a priority in our lives. In his book, Vital Friends: The People You Can’t Afford To Live Without, author Tom Rath says:

 If you ask people why they became homeless, why their marriage failed or why they overeat, they often say it is because of the poor quality, or nonexistence, of friendships. They feel outcast or unloved.

Likewise, the philosopher Aristotle had this to say about the importance of friendship:

In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge. They keep the young out of mischief; they comfort and aid the old in their weakness, and they incite those in the prime of life to noble deeds.

The whole idea of having friends originated with God, who said: "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness..." The first friendship ever recorded in human history was between God and the first man, Adam. Think about it. Adam was a friend of God. Not only did Adam have God's ear, he also had his trust. But we know from reading the Biblical account that friendship was broken when Adam sinned.

When a valued friendship goes awry, most people are willing to do whatever it takes to restore it. Well, God is no different. From the moment Adam sinned, God already had a plan in place to restore his friendship with mankind. It took God coming down to earth in the person of Jesus Christ and dying on the cross in full payment not only for Adam's sin, but for those of all future generations.

Christ himself carried our sins in his body to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. It is by his wounds that you have been healed. -- 1 Peter 2:24 NLT 

 God wants to be friends with you again. There's no better friend you could have in your life. why not accept His offer today. Pray like this:

Lord Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you into my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. I want us to be friends again. Amen.