HOPE.

In February 2015 we received news that every family dreads might be a part of their  future: our beloved 13 year-old grandson, Braden, was diagnosed with cancer.   Braden waged a courageous battle with this dragon, but in the end, his body could not gain the upper hand and on June 28, 2016 he "leveled-up" and bounded into the arms of Jesus--leaving for us a legacy of grace, mercy and confidence.

Our lives have been changed, but they have not been wrecked. Braden lost his life, but not once in the process leading up to his last breath on this side of the vale, did he lose his hope: the certain promise that he, as a believer in Jesus Christ, would finally be transported into the presence of His Lord and Savior, there to enjoy life as HE designed it to be.

I am grateful beyond words for the hope we have in Christ, and the healing death brings for those who have embraced Christ through effective saving faith; for these death need not be something to be feared

DEATH levels the playing field of life. No one ever gets out alive. Feels capricious and mean-spirited. Yet, not; you see had not death been allowed to efficiently rampage through humankind, with no exceptions, we would be once and forever separated from experiencing the face-to-face, real-time, relationship God created us for in the first place. It's through this portal that we bound into eternity; it's the portal Braden bounded through. 

Without death we would be chained to a relationship of enmity with God; we would be eternal beings, like Lucifer and the legion of angels which were cast out of heaven because of their rebellion; no reverse, no repair--NO hope.

Death became the modality that God uses to foil Satan's attempt to co-opt God's crowning creative act, the human race.  So then, death is the definitive "check-mate" and demonstrates God's mastery; always steps ahead of evil and the chaos of sin. Genesis 3 describes the event that initiated the rebellion of Adam and Eve to sin and it's necessary result, death; it's also here that we learn that death is part of God's bigger plan for hope and the redemption of human-kind.

The rest, is history, 1 John 4.9,10...

"God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son 

into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 

10  This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us 

and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins."

We know that love is a four letter word, spelled H-O-P-E; more importantly, we know that death simply marks the first day of the rest of our lives, 2 Corinthians 4.16-18...

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet 

inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary 

troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 

18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, 

since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

"What is unseen is eternal..." welcome to the real world.   In Christ, we will rise; thanks be to God.  

It's a GRACE day.

Life is fast.
Live it well...M6.8 bN