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Growing old in God’s tender loving care!

Growing old in God’s tender loving care! I am 80 years old and have carried a 12 foot cross around the world in every nation and major island group for over 43,340 miles for the world’s longest walk/pilgrimage. I know how it feels to be old. Today we use the term ‘senior or elderly’. The word ‘elder’ is often used in scripture sometimes for an old person but also for a position. I have chosen to share where the word refers to old age.  

Old Testament scriptures:

Psalm 71:18-19 Now that I am old and my hair is gray, don’t leave me, God. I must tell the next generation about your power and greatness. 

Psalm 71:9 And now, in my old age, don’t set me aside. Don’t forsake me now when my strength is failing. 

Genesis 15:15 Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age.

Genesis 18:11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.

Genesis 24:1 Abraham was now a very old man, and the Lord had blessed him in every way.

Genesis 25:7-8 Abraham lived for 175 years, and he died at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying life. He breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death.

Genesis 21:1-3 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.  Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. 

Genesis 35:28-29 Isaac lived a hundred and eighty years. Then he breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years. And his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Genesis 43:27 And he inquired about their welfare and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?”

Genesis 47:31;48:1-2,9-10,21; 49:32; 50:1 And Israel (Jacob) bowed in worship at the head of his bed….Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed….Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.” Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them….Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers…And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people. Then Joseph fell on his father’s face and wept over him, and kissed him.

Exodus 10:9 And Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old; with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 34:7 Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever.

Leviticus 19:32 “Rise in the presence of the aged and honor the elderly face-to-face. “Fear your God. I am the Lord.

1 Samuel 12:2 Now, here is the king walking before you, but as for me, I am old and gray, and my sons are here with you. And I have walked before you since my youth to this day.

1 Samuel 28:14 “What does he look like?” he asked. “An old man wearing a robe is coming up,” she said. Then Saul knew it was Samuel, and he bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground.

Joshua 23:1  Now it came to pass, a long time after the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua was old, advanced in age. And Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them: “I am old, advanced in age.

1 Kings 12:6 There were some older men who had helped Solomon make decisions when he was alive. So King Rehoboam asked these men what he should do.

1 Chronicles 29:28 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent. 

Ruth 4:15 He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age.

Job 12:12 Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to the old.

Job 32:7  I thought, ‘Those who are older should speak, for wisdom comes with age.’

Job 42:17 And so Job died, old and full of years.

Psalm 37:25  I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.

Psalm 90:9-10  We finish our years like a sigh (a moan). Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Psalm 92:12-14 They flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. They will declare, “The Lord is just! He is my rock!

Proverbs 16:31 Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is obtained by following a righteous path.

Proverbs 17:6 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged and the glory of children is their fathers.

Proverbs 20:29 The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old.

Ecclesiastes 12: 1-7 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low, they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Isaiah 46:4 Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will still carry you and deliver you.

Jeremiah 31:13 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, And the young men and the old, together; For I will turn their mourning to joy, and will comfort them, And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.

Joel 2:28 And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

Zechariah 8:4 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with staff in hand because of great age.

New Testament:

Luke 1:18 And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.” And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.

Luke 1:36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.

Luke 2:36-38 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years after her marriage and then was a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

John 21:18 Amen, amen, I tell you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you wanted; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.”

Acts 2:17- And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams.

1 Corinthians 1:8-9 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into fellowship with his son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

2 Corinthians 4:16-17 Though outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are renewed day by day. Our suffering is light and temporary and is producing for us an eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine.

Philemon 1:9 I prefer to make my appeal on the basis of love. I, Paul, as an old man and now a prisoner of the Messiah Jesus.

1 Timothy 5:1 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

Titus 2:2-3 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.

Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Hebrews 11:13,16; 12:12-13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced  and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth… Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them….Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? ”The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Revelation 21:1-7; 22-27 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son…..

But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

John 3:16-18 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

“Prepare to meet thy God!” Amos 4:12 

“Dear God, I need you. I repent of my sins and put my trust and faith in Jesus who died on the cross and shed His Holy Blood for my sins, was buried and arose on the third day and has ascended to heaven. I welcome Jesus in my heart and confess You as my Savior. I believe in Jesus. Make my home in heaven. I am not ashamed of Jesus. Welcome Holy Spirit in my life. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.”

Jesus prayed on the cross just before He died “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.” Luke 23:46 

Now, tell others that you are saved and ready to meet Jesus. 

I would like to invite you to read and study these scriptures. You may take these scriptures with you to read to an old person or really to anyone. You can then invite that person to pray the prayer as you have them repeat it with you. 

Just remember, the closer you are to death, the closer you are to heaven!

You can order “Palm of the Hand” cards from our website store at:

https://blessitt.com/product/palm-of-the-hand-pack-of-100-cards/

Pilgrim followers of Jesus, Arthur and Denise Blessitt. Luke 18:1 

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