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"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." Jesus said to the theif at his side on the cross, "Today thou will be with me in Paradise." "If I make my bed in hell, thou art with me."
But I am hard-pressed from both {directions,} having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for {that} is very much better (Phil 1:23)
Phil 1:24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.
Approximately 3 months before my healthy brother-in-law, aged 50, died from apparent heart attack which caused him to crash into a tree on motorcycle, he experienced a visit from his deceased dad one night. He sat up in the bed in response and saw his dad sitting on the bed and heard him talking to him. He came away knowing that dad was coming for Mom who is still living. Apparently he was wrong on that part; it was him who was going home. Did he really see and talk with dad? He says he did. And he did go home a few months later unexpectedly.
Does the Bible contradict itself or do we not have the knowledge or ability to discern apparent contradictions?
I believe a child, and there have been other true life accounts from little children seeing the Lord and being told they will go with Jesus who died from terminal illness.
God is a God of exceeding hope, which exists abundantly above all we can ask or think. I will never tell any dying person or dying child's parent that their loved one will Not see the Lord on the other side. Too many have seen him on the other side and have come back to testify to the word that says death has lost it's sting and so has the grave.
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