Is my deceased mother watching me?

Bethann21

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Hello. I was reading a Facebook story about a woman who almost died and claims to have seen her father with wings saying he was always with her and waiting for her when it was time. Immediately I thought of my poor dead mother with wings watching my sinful life. I know the verse about all tears being wiped away but that is after the end of the world... right? I am a baby Christian and am confused and mortified.
 

Albion

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Hello. I was reading a Facebook story about a woman who almost died and claims to have seen her father with wings saying he was always with her and waiting for her when it was time. Immediately I thought of my poor dead mother with wings watching my sinful life. I know the verse about all tears being wiped away but that is after the end of the world... right? I am a baby Christian and am confused and mortified.
What you're describing is something that's often heard. We want to think that our deceased loved ones are looking down on us and smiling--or protecting us. Or something like that. But there is nothing in scripture that supports this kind of fond "folk religion." There is a hint that those in heaven have some awareness of us mortals in general and do pray for humanity on their own, but nothing like you've described in your post.
 
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tdidymas

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The Bible says "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." This tells me that in paradise, no one (except God) has any awareness of what is happening on earth (as is also described in Revelation 6). I don't believe my deceased parents are aware of my life here. They are simply waiting for me to come to them. But it is far more important for me to know that Christ is watching me, that God is watching, and not merely watching, but actively a part of my life. It is also important for me to believe that God is with me for love, and not for harm.

It is true that tears wiped away is the future, after the resurrection. We have expectation that there will be tears in this life, and "many tribulations." (Acts 14:22)

The part about people with wings in heaven is fictitious. Many people having NDEs say nothing about people with wings in heaven. The Bible relates that only angels in heaven have wings. When angels appeared to men on earth, there is nothing said about them having wings. Also, the idea that the spirit of a dead relative is "with us" is fictitious. Evil spirits roam the earth, not human ghosts. Dreams are funny events. In them our brain crosses fact and fiction, and we can't tell the difference there. We should always take them with a grain of salt.
TD:)
 
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DamianWarS

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Contrary to the efforts of a lot of people the bible does not paint a clear picture of what the afterlife looks like. We have broad strokes but not fine detail like loved ones having wings and watching us from heaven. This is because the bible is written for the living as a guide for us in this life not in the next.

It is dangerous to fill in the gaps with information we get from NDE, dreams and prophecy that is missing in the bible. The litmus test for such things is 1. Does it agree with scripture and 2. What is the fruit of the accounts. The fruit it bares should expose it as false if it indeed is. The fruit should be able to give God glory and build his kingdom. Accounts that are missing God can be self serving like seeing a loved one in heaven makes us feel good but where is God and how does it give him glory? If it's only there to make you feel good then I would question it's authenticity.

What should be of greater concern is not your mother watching you but Jesus who does know and see our actions. Not to scare you but simply to be aware that in every moment we should be able to show worship to God in our actions we find ourselves doing.

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blackribbon

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First of all, the Bible does not tell us what the afterlife looks like. However, after my husband died, my experiences have changed how I see the afterlife. I used to believe that Heaven was some far off place separate from our here and now. However, I now believe that we are separated only by a veil that we can not see through usually. On rare occasions, dead people have been seen by living people...and this is Biblical...at these times, I believe God has allowed the veil to open slightly and the two worlds intersect. It is through this veil that I believe Elijah & Elisha crossed without dying an earthly death.

Luke 16:19-31 tells the story of a rich man who died and how he was trying to send a message back to his brothers to save them from his fate...although it isn't said directly, I believe he is thinking about them because he can see them and there is a reason why he believes a message can be sent from the dead to the living. And as you read the story, you will notice that it was never said that Lazarus COULDN'T deliver this message, only that it was useless to try because the brothers wouldn't have received the message in their hearts. (For those that want to believe this story is only a parable, note that it is the only parable where a character is given a proper exact name...so I personally believe it is a true story about real people who have lived and walked this earth and not a parable).

All that to say, I do believe they can see us. However, your mother isn't sitting in judgment and disappointment but rather is in a place where she can love you with love that is even greater than she felt while being here. She doesn't care about your past any more than Jesus does. She simply wants you to make the right decisions from this day forth so you can experience God's best in this life and so that you can return to Jesus in death. Jesus has the love expressed in the parable of the prodigal son ( Luke 15:11-32 ), God loves us unconditionally when we return to him and make it our goal to please Him. The prodigal son wasn't required to recount his sins to his father...he was welcomed with complete love and acceptance when he returned to his father. Jesus will do the same for you. Your sins harm you, not God. Take time to love yourself as God loves you and work on putting the sinful things that you are ashamed of behind you.
 
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SkyWriting

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Hello. I was reading a Facebook story about a woman who almost died and claims to have seen her father with wings saying he was always with her and waiting for her when it was time. Immediately I thought of my poor dead mother with wings watching my sinful life. I know the verse about all tears being wiped away but that is after the end of the world... right? I am a baby Christian and am confused and mortified.

People who "almost die" experience lack of oxygen and other chemical changes.
Such events are not a passage to reality, just the opposite.
 
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blackribbon

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People who "almost die" experience lack of oxygen and other chemical changes.
Such events are not a passage to reality, just the opposite.

How do you know this? Our souls are not attached to our physical bodies. They can not become "oxygen deprived". I think our "self" is attached to our soul and not our physical body. There is a reason why doctor say to keep talking to your loved ones, even when they no longer appear to have any consciousness...that the hearing is the very last thing to go. I have read a book by a neurosurgeon who believed what you said until he almost died (and should have died). He said his experience could not be explained by lack of oxygen or any other medical/biological explanation that he and his colleagues had always believed.
 
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The Portuguese Baptist

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No. Probably not. The Bible provides no indication that they can.

If you feel awkward because you think your deceased mother may be ‘watching your sinful life from Heaven’, please bear two things in mind: 1) we hardly think she is; and 2) even if she is, you should be way more concerned that God himself is watching you (your mother can do nothing to punish you, but God can).

So, do not worry about that! :) Avoid sinning — not in order to avoid disappointing your deceased mother, but to avoid disappointing God.
 
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FireDragon76

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I would agree with what BlackRibbon said. Somebody who is in heaven doesn't have the same perspective as a person on earth. (BTW, I think that's a bit scrupulous or needlessly anxious to think like that in the first place, but if you are a new Christian that's understandable).
 
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SkyWriting

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How do you know this? Our souls are not attached to our physical bodies.

I don't know these things. I read a lot. I'm just relaying what I've read in the past
as I researched NDE's over the years. You are free to continue your ghost chasing, just ignore me.

Peace of Mind: Near-Death Experiences Now Found to Have Scientific Explanations
Seeing your life pass before you and the light at the end of the tunnel, can be explained by new research on abnormal functioning of dopamine and oxygen flow
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/peace-of-mind-near-death/
 
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Original Happy Camper

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Hello. I was reading a Facebook story about a woman who almost died and claims to have seen her father with wings saying he was always with her and waiting for her when it was time. Immediately I thought of my poor dead mother with wings watching my sinful life. I know the verse about all tears being wiped away but that is after the end of the world... right? I am a baby Christian and am confused and mortified.

This is a lesson on the state of the dead found at Amazingfacts.org state of the dead.
Hope it answers your question.
Do good people go to heaven when they die?
"All that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth." John 5:28, 29. "David ... is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day." "For David is not ascended into the heavens." Acts 2:29, 34. "If I wait, the grave is mine house." Job 17:13.

Answer: No, people do not go either to heaven or hell at death. They go to their graves to await the resurrection day.




7. How much does one know or comprehend after death?
"The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun." "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10. "The dead praise not the Lord." Psalms 115:17.

Answer: God says that the dead know absolutely nothing!



Though millions think it is possible, the dead cannot communicate with the living.


8. But can't the dead communicate with the living, and aren't they aware of what the living are doing?
"So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep." "His sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." Job 14:12, 21. "Neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun." Ecclesiastes 9:6.

Answer: No, the dead cannot contact the living, nor do they know what the living are doing. They are dead. Their thoughts have perished (Psalms 146:4).



Jesus calls death "sleep." It is a state of total unconsciousness.


9. Jesus called the unconscious state of the dead "sleep" in John 11:11-14. How long will they sleep?
"So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more." Job 14:12. "The day of the Lord will come ... in the which the heavens shall pass away."
2 Peter 3:10.

Answer: The dead will sleep until the great day of the Lord at the end of the world. In death, humans are totally unconscious with no activity or knowledge of any kind.



The righteous will be raised to life and given immortality at Jesus' second coming.

Satan has the ability to impersonate the dead.
 
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SkyWriting

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How do I quit sinning? I thought that as descendants of Adam we are all sinners.

Do not do what you know to be wrong.
Like when jesus told the prostitute
not to sin any more. He was not
suggesting she was now perfect
before God.
 
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blackribbon

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How do I quit sinning? I thought that as descendants of Adam we are all sinners.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using Tapatalk

You simply focus on pleasing God in all your thoughts and actions. Do nothing wrong consciously and ask forgiveness for the things you realise that you failed at. God is faithful to forgive if we just ask. And once your sins are forgiven, they are your past. If you don't repeat them, they do not hang like a cloud over your head...but rather they have been washed clean as fresh snow.

Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV)
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
 
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blackribbon

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People in the Bible who were raised from the dead....maybe not as "dead" or as far away as many people think.

1) The widow of Zarephath’s son (1 Kings 17:17-24).

2) The man raised out of Elisha’s grave (2 Kings 13:20-21)

3) The widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-17)

4) Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:52-56)

5) Lazarus of Bethany (John 11)

6) Various saints in Jerusalem (Matthew 27:50-53).

7) Tabitha (Acts 9:36-43)

8) Eutychus (Acts 20:7-12)
 
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blackribbon

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And Jesus (before his resurrection), Peter, James and John all saw Moses and Elijah ... ( long dead...and yet they knew who they were )....

Matthew 17: 1-3 (NIV)
1 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
 
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Frisky Wren

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Another "brand new" member with a heart wrenching story to bring us to tears. And a baby at that.
My heart goes out to such miserable, wretched, confused, mortified sinners.
Maybe one day you'll have the heart to help them with your long experience in the faith.
 
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Frisky Wren

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Hello. I was reading a Facebook story about a woman who almost died and claims to have seen her father with wings saying he was always with her and waiting for her when it was time. Immediately I thought of my poor dead mother with wings watching my sinful life. I know the verse about all tears being wiped away but that is after the end of the world... right? I am a baby Christian and am confused and mortified.
Ecclesiastes 9:5
Ecclesiastes 12:7
No, your mother is not watching you in this life. NDE's aren't anything but delusion under a traumatic circumstance. No one has seen Heaven and returned to this life.

Also, you are not living a sinful life when you are renewed in the spirit of Christ. When you were saved God no longer held your sins against you. Jesus died to wash them clean through the Father's grace. You will not be perfect as a Christian. You will make mistakes. However, it would be odd wouldn't it? If when you were saved and became filled with God's sacred and holy spirit after you repented of your sins and God promised you he would never remember them to hold them against you after that that you were then cast into the same role as before, a sinner. After accepting his grace for yourself.

That's not how it works.

You are reborn from being that perfect pure newborn baby who grew up in the world that was sin filled. And then when you arrived at that age of accountability, when you were responsible for knowing and choosing right from wrong, entered into the realm of "sinner", you were separated from God by that veil that occupies this world.

When you hearkened unto God's calling and found Jesus and accepted him as your Savior by God's grace you were released from that old you. From the coating of this world that made you sinner. You held yourself accountable for your actions and you asked God's forgiveness because you knew you could live a better life in a better way.

You're not a sinner anymore. You are a saint in the body of Christ. :hug: As they say, being a Christian doesn't make us perfect. It makes us forgiven.
 
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