Hope . . .

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, STAND FIRM. Let NOTHING move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is NOT in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:55-58)

I write this with a heavy heart this morning thinking of a close brother who has lost his adult son tragically while on travel. However, it does remind me that this CHRISTmas is really not about a BABY, but about a SAVIOR who went to His death for our sins and then powerfully took up His own body and walked out from the grave to grant us eternal life with Him! 

Though physical death may take us all one day, we are eternally alive in Christ if we trust Him while we are yet living. The GIFT of salvation through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ is what we must GIVE away, above any other gift, this CHRISTmas. I offer encouragement not just to my brother and friend, but to all who may be grieving or suffering this HOLYday Season. 

To the BELIEVERS, death is a temporary set back leading to an eternal residence with our Lord and Savior. In order to have a reunion of friends and families, we must decide TODAY: Have YOU made the decision for your eternal residence? I REST with my SAVIOR this CHRISTmas and for eternity! 

Merry CHRISTmas . . . despite the pain, we can have JOY . . . One day we will celebrate together again.