I heard a song yesterday that said…
“Hope means holding on to You;
Grace means You’re holding me, too”
How blessed are we that even when we are not holding on – He still does?
We have so much to be thankful for this Christmas.
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Lulu's Grace 
Hi Cami – I thought of you guys when I read the below devotion this morning. It’s from a contact at work who is also a pastor. Praying for peace and healing for you guys this Christmas and always…
Ps 116:15-19
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. 16 O LORD, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant; you have freed me from my chains. 17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the LORD. 18 I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the house of the LORD–in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.
How can something as hurtful as the death of one we love be considered as precious in the sight of the Lord? To answer this question we must look at death from God’s perspective and then from our own. For us, when we lose one we love from this life, there is so much pain and such a vast emptiness. There is nothing about this experience that is precious to us. In fact, it is everything but precious. It is horrible beyond words to express. But this feeling is in complete harmony with the word of God. When Jesus saw his dear friends mourning the loss of their brother, he wept. Those standing there took note of how much Jesus loved his friend Lazarus. When the apostle Paul spoke to us about death, he did not say that we do not sorrow but rather we do not sorrow as those who have no hope. Indeed, our hearts are filled with sorrow beyond words.
But when we view death from God’s perspective we see something entirely different. We see a loving Father who made a person to come and live with him in eternal bliss but this one has left him and that home for something worthless. Yet, because that son or daughter has sought to come back home, the Father has forgiven all their transgressions. So as we stand beside one who takes their last breath in this life, we can envision our Father standing with open arms to welcome them home. But unlike the parable of the prodigal son, whose brother did not welcome him back home, we have a brother named Jesus who also is waiting with anticipation for us to come and be with him. Just as we would wait on our loved one to return from a long trip and welcome them with rejoicing, just so our Father and Brother is waiting for us to come to that blessed home that has been prepared for us. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
O God, loving Father, I thank you for your infinite wisdom. I thank you for caring about me and preparing a place for me when my time is spent here on earth. I do ask a special blessing on those who have lost their loved ones and who are hurting so badly at this time. Please give them the peace and emotional healing that only you can give. Use me and give me some word of wisdom to do what I can to help them. Give me a greater faith so I will keep my eyes focused on you and on the things above. I humble pray in the name of Jesus who died for me. Robert
profound – couldn’t have a better visual than this pic.
thank you.