Beautiful Promises to Christians

Yesterday I was briefly reading in 2 Corinthians and came across these verses:

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; stuck down, but not destroyed." (2 Cor. 4:7-9, emp. mine). 

How marvelous and comforting it is to be a child of God! This earth is filled with sin and poison, with deadly disease and tragedy abounding. Evil has encompassed us, and yet we have these assurances from Holy Scripture that say that God's child will not be crushed, will not be in despair, will not be forsaken, and will not be destroyed.

If your life is anything like mine (and as a human being, it will be), you have experienced loss and heartache and grief and discouragement and fear and hurt. You have been hard-pressed by the devil's tactics, persecuted by those who are doing his work, and beaten down for holding strongly to your beliefs in the Almighty God of heaven. Please know, though, that in every hour of trial you have these promises. You will not be crushed. You will not be destroyed. Most importantly (to me, at least): you will not be forsaken.

The Creator of the universe will never leave you. In this life, He is always with you...His light shining though you (2 Cor. 4:6). In the next life, we will be face to face with Him, and He will wipe the tears from our eyes and give us the crown of life (Rev. 21:4, James 1:12).

No matter what this life offers you, God promises to deliver! And, in the midst of your hardships and battles, He promises His immeasurable and indescribable peace (Phil. 4:7). Again I will say, how marvelous to be a child of God! Thank Him for this blessing today and always.

Tragedy and Mary

I have already done one post on Jesus' mother, Mary, and the things we can learn from her. In the wake of Friday's tragic events, however, I simply cannot get her off my mind. And here's why:

Mary knew tragedy.

John 19:25 says, "Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother...". Not only did Mary know tragedy and heartbreak, she experienced it first hand. She watched her son hang on a cross and suffer indescribable pain. She watched as the blood trickled down His brow; she heard Him cry out in pain; she looked on as His body hang limply after He'd given up the ghost (Lk 23:46). We read this story and we focus on Jesus--and rightly so--, but imagine for a moment that you are Mary. No mother should ever have to experience this! And yet, she was there, experiencing what no one should have to, for her son.

Surely we have all muttered (or at the very least thought) that no person should have to go through what those 40-something parents are having to go through. Their innocent, beautiful children were slain in an unexplainable, evil act. They are, without doubt, suffering immensely. But they aren't the first.

Mary watched as her beautiful, innocent Son was brutally murdered. She was there as the crowds chanted, as the soldiers prodded, as the darkness gathered. She saw firsthand, much like these parents are seeing now, the evil that was in the world.

And yet, because of all that Mary had to suffer on that day, we can all have hope--yes, even those parents of the children whose lives were cut too short. You see, because of the cruel death of Mary's innocent Son, we can all have life (John 3:15-16). Because of her Son, we can know that those innocent lives from Sandy Hook will be in a land with no more death and no more pain (Rev. 21:4). We can have full assurance that God will avenge their untimely deaths (Rom. 12:19), as He will avenge and ultimately purge all of the evil this world has ever known.

Mary was not crushed on the day that her Son died. Instead, Mary knew that He would rise again and claim victory over death. We, too, can know that victory will be ours. In the last day this earth will ever know, Jesus will once and for all claim victory over death--and all of those who will be faithful to Him can claim a part in that victory (1 John 5:3-5).

With every fiber of my being I hate what happened on Friday. I hate that those children we taken from this world in such a cruel and painful way. I hate that people are hurting. I hate that people are blaming God. I hate that the world that we live in is so evil. But, I can find peace in the midst of this tragedy, and if you will turn to God, you can too. Let the words that Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in 1 Thess. 4:13-18 comfort you.

"But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God wi ll bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

Death is not the end. Undoubtedly Mary knew that as she watched Jesus hang on the cross, and we can know that ourselves in the face of tragedy. Whether we are taken brutally from this life, die peacefully in our sleep, or are alive when Jesus comes back and all of world is destroyed, we can have a hope (expectation) of heaven for our final abode.

Please continue to pray for the hearts of those affected by this tragedy. Pray that they can give their lives over to God so that they can experience the peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7) and have the hope of reuniting with their children one day.

One Glorious Day

This week has been tough.  One of the members at East Hill passed away after a long battle with brain cancer. Let me tell you, this wonderful woman was a fighter. She battled cancer with a smile and a joke every single time you talked to her. She was always upbeat, always sincere, and always interested in others--even when she wasn't feeling well at all.

Though I've only been a member at East Hill for a little over a year, this lady was so special to me. From the start, she was one of the regular people that stopped and talked to me and asked how things were going--even though she was the one going through so much. I will forever treasure the Bible bookmark she gave me that her mother had made and the hat she gave me last year around Christmas that matches my scarf so perfectly. She was so, so generous, and you couldn't help but love her.

While sitting at the funeral yesterday--in the back with the singers...a place she occupied for so long--I couldn't help but smile as I listened to thoughts about her life. She was so full of life and she made everyone around her so happy. But while those thoughts were nice, it was the fact that she had been so faithful to our Lord that made me smile the most.

I know that she is free from her suffering and the trials that plagued her. I know that she is rejoicing, and I can rejoice in that, too.

God is so faithful to us. His promises are true always, and that gives me such hope and assurance. And, though funerals are never fun, don't you just love the ones when you know the other person had been faithful to God? It makes it a much happier occasion.

Concerning death, Paul told the Corinthians:

"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'. "O 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!" 1 Corinthians 15:50-57

I am so thankful to our God that He has given us the victory! Janet is experiencing that victory over death--and one day she'll be raised to meet our Savior in the air. When I'm sad that I won't get to hear her voice or see her smile, I remember where she is, and I wouldn't call her back for a moment.

It is my prayer that all of you who read this are faithful to our Lord. I know that it isn't probable, but it is my prayer nonetheless. And, if you aren't faithful to your Lord, think of the way your funeral would be. Would your children, grandchildren, and friends be comforted to be there, or would they be mourning your loss because they would never be reunited with you again? If you aren't being faithful to your Lord, change! He gives us victory over death! We must accept the victory, though, on His terms.

Paul urged the Corinthians to be "steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1. Cor. 15:58). Let us all be that way so that God will give us the victory when our earthly life is over.

I'm so thankful to have known Janet. She was such a bright spot in my life, and she will be missed--until that glorious day when we are reunited.