Thursday, February 02, 2017
Declaring war on death
I have been thinking quite a bit about death lately. Not because I am morbid -- and no, I did not get bad news from the Doctor.
But we did just put Marsha's Dad on hospice. Just buried her Mom a couple of months ago.
In the past weeks, two young families I know lost babies.
Another family buried their 15 year old daughter.
Close friends had a memorial service for their grown son.
So, yeah, I have been thinking about death.
And I hate death. Death is the enemy.
Death is one of Satan's weapons. He lied about it to Adam and Eve. He lies about it to us. He uses death, and the fear of death, to rob us of health, joy, peace, hope, and, well... life.
It happens to all of us. Sooner. Or later.
But Jesus has defeated death. He was raised from the dead never to die again.
Because I believe in Jesus, I too will overcome death. The grave will not hold me. Jesus is coming back and will raise me from the dead never to die again. I will live forever.
The people I mentioned above believe in Jesus. So parents will hold those babies. And their teenager. And their grown son. They will be raised. They will live.
So I am going to fight death (and Satan) with the one thing that truly frightens them. Jesus.
I am going to tell people about Jesus. And every time that someone decides to follow Jesus then death is defeated.
The power of death is taken away by Jesus. No fear because we will be raised from the dead. Observe how Christians die. It is amazing how many do not fear it, but even embrace it.
Because of Jesus.
So take that death. We will sing thru tears of grief, we will overcome fear, we will win. Because of Jesus.
And if you don't like it, what's the worst you can do me? Take my life? Then the joke is on you.
Jesus beat you, and because of him ... so do I.
We win. You lose. We live. Because of Jesus.
So God, in a week where I have had to think about death a lot... thank you. Thank you for life thru your son and for the promise of the resurrection. I will keep telling people the good news that thru Jesus we live. Forever.
But we did just put Marsha's Dad on hospice. Just buried her Mom a couple of months ago.
In the past weeks, two young families I know lost babies.
Another family buried their 15 year old daughter.
Close friends had a memorial service for their grown son.
So, yeah, I have been thinking about death.
And I hate death. Death is the enemy.
Death is one of Satan's weapons. He lied about it to Adam and Eve. He lies about it to us. He uses death, and the fear of death, to rob us of health, joy, peace, hope, and, well... life.
It happens to all of us. Sooner. Or later.
But Jesus has defeated death. He was raised from the dead never to die again.
Because I believe in Jesus, I too will overcome death. The grave will not hold me. Jesus is coming back and will raise me from the dead never to die again. I will live forever.
The people I mentioned above believe in Jesus. So parents will hold those babies. And their teenager. And their grown son. They will be raised. They will live.
So I am going to fight death (and Satan) with the one thing that truly frightens them. Jesus.
I am going to tell people about Jesus. And every time that someone decides to follow Jesus then death is defeated.
The power of death is taken away by Jesus. No fear because we will be raised from the dead. Observe how Christians die. It is amazing how many do not fear it, but even embrace it.
Because of Jesus.
So take that death. We will sing thru tears of grief, we will overcome fear, we will win. Because of Jesus.
And if you don't like it, what's the worst you can do me? Take my life? Then the joke is on you.
Jesus beat you, and because of him ... so do I.
We win. You lose. We live. Because of Jesus.
So God, in a week where I have had to think about death a lot... thank you. Thank you for life thru your son and for the promise of the resurrection. I will keep telling people the good news that thru Jesus we live. Forever.
