Jesus, Lord and Savior, is alive!

My seven-year old grand nephew stepped into the house.

“He is risen,” I said to his parents. With a brilliant smile, young Cole responded. “He is risen indeed!”

Oh, how I delighted in hearing this child echo those precious words. The Cross is empty, and Jesus is alive! In conquering death, He gave us hope, for now and eternity.

Bill and Gloria Gaither penned these familiar words.

“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow; because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know who holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives.”

I’m reading a wonderful novel in which a 29-year old mother of three, engaged to a kind, loving man after having been in an abusive marriage, dies without warning. Here’s how the author, ___, describes her death.

“She turned away, and in the space of a breath, her spirit defied the bounds of the room’s four walls, the roof of the house, then the limits of earth and the boundaries of the heavens themselves.

“She became aware of a holy presence, surrounding her, embracing her. And a beloved voice that spoke a name she did not know, yet somehow recognized as her own.

“She moved closer, into the arms of the One who beckoned. And in that moment she knew.

“She was home.”

A NEST OF SPARROWS, Deborah Raney

Raney reminds us that death is not just a leaving, an end, but a going toward.

I cherish my life, filled with love, family, friends, the beauty of nature, our home and dog, memories, laughter, worship, joy, challenges, opportunities to learn and grow and give. And yet, “I can only imagine” what that sense of wholeness, of being “home” will be like when I pass from this earth to eternity and see Jesus face to face. And I won’t want to leave the ultimate joy and pleasure of being in God’s presence.

May you have hope today because He lives!

She was home.