death

I am a pretty hopeful person. Hopeful about life, death, etc. The only thing that I am truly afraid of if someone I truly love died. I don't know how I would be able to handle it. My whole life has gone by without this one fact of life occurring. What will I do when life catches up with me and I will have to face this, deal with it, internalize it, live with it. Will I ever get past it? Will days get easier? I believe I will--I get over things, that's just what I do.

I don't think it's the death so much, as the concern for where this loved one will end up. Will they end up in heaven. That scares me if i answer this question. Naturally the question that follows is: How do people get into heaven? What do they have to believe? What does the bible say?

A slim part of me leans toward the proclaiming that Jesus is Lord, but a larger part of me leans toward God knowing each of our hearts. But then what do you do with someone who acknoledges God, "a god", even Jesus, may or may not consider oneself a Christian, who does good and lives out a Jesus-like outward/otherness type of life (not perfectly, but none of us do). What do you do with the "good person"?

What do I do with the "good person"? How do I talk to someone I've known my whole life about God. How do you introduce God/Jesus in a new and refreshing way, so that the authenticity of Him is revealed verses the religious constructs of the past? How do you try and reach out, all the while giving it over to God knowing that it is ultimately up to Him to change this person's heart. It's a catch 22! How does our free will fit into God's sovereignty?