christianity

Easter is quickly approaching. I woke up last night thinking about an Easter message I heard several years ago. I wanted to share it with you again. It is a reminder that Jesus loves us as we are, and that no one is beyond His Grace.

The Bible tells us that Peter denied Christ three times the night before Jesus was led to the cross. It is a powerful reminder of Christ’s love for each of us. You remember the story in Luke 22:54-62:

Then they seized Him and led Him away, bringing Him into the high priest’s house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with Him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how He had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Later, after His resurrection, Jesus met Peter on the beach. Even though Peter had denied knowing Him three times, Jesus didn’t :

Confront him and make him feel small;

hold a grudge for years,

ask him to grovel and plead on the sand,

order him to work hard for his forgiveness.

When Peter met Jesus on that beach, after he had denied knowing Him three times, Jesus asked Peter three times: ‘Do you love me?’

And then He gave him a new start, a fresh beginning. ‘Come be my disciple, He said, “Follow me.”

But we may say… that was Peter, a beloved disciple of Jesus. What happens with us?

The truth is, when we meet Jesus each morning, after another day of ups and downs, Jesus doesn’t:

Confront us and make us feel small;

hold a grudge for years,,

ask us to grovel and plead on the sand,

order us to work hard for our forgiveness.

Instead, Jesus asks us again each morning:

‘Do you love Me?’

Even with the little love we have in our hearts, Jesus offers us a new start, a fresh beginning. ‘Come be my disciple,’ He says, ‘Follow me.’

Please… take the chance. Follow Jesus.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

Portions reprinted from David Hopwood/engageworship.org

I lost my mother this past October. She died two weeks before her 96th birthday. We’re not certain what happened. Her death was sudden. Up until five weeks prior, she was living independently. Her rapid decline was astonishing even to caregivers, doctors, and Hospice. As an example, she spent less than 18 hours under Hospice care.. In the midst of it all, however, God showed up in an astonishing way.

The week before she passed away, I arrived at Mother’s care facility to find she had left a gathering. When I caught up with her, Mother was smiling and asked me, “Did you see them?”

“See who?” I asked.

“The family. They were all there,” she said.

Mother was an only child, and the family she was referring to were her parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and great aunts and uncles, all of whom had long since passed away.

I questioned her further. Mother said, “I saw them all. They were each holding a glass of red liquid. Their glasses were full, while mine was over half empty.”

Mother said she had approached one woman who she thought was her Aunt Lorena, but the woman did not answer her. Mother fell into my arms, sobbing. “I miss them so.”

From that moment on, Mother was inconsolable. She insisted that she wanted to go home. But home was nowhere to be found… at least not in this world. I asked her where home was, but she couldn’t answer.

The night of her death, Mother asked the nurse, “Why are they putting flowers on my bed?” Moments later she looked up in surprise, calling her dad’s name. My grandfather had come to take her Home. It was fitting that it was Grandfather… Mother was the apple of his eye. Then Mother took her last breath.

Luke, the head of Mother’s Hospice team, reminded me that Mother’s visions were an assurance that she had seen beyond Heaven’s veil and was now with those family members that meant so much to her. It was a reminder to me that Heaven is real. God, in His mercy, had lifted the veil for us between this world and the next. He had shown us a glimpse of the reunion that awaits each of us in Heaven (see 2 Samuel 12:23 as another example). If you do not know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I pray that you will investigate and embrace Him. He promises a similar beautiful eternity in heaven for all of us who believe on Him.

May God bless each of you during this season of Thanksgiving. Rest in peace, my dear mother. I pray that you are basking in the loving arms of family while worshipping the One who called you Home.

***

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

For an uplifting song and visual, check out I Believe, by Brooks and Dunn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5z-jjWyAJQ

In honor of my mother and her vision, we sang In the Sweet By and By at her memorial service: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWNEX7hHuVo