Editor's note: Yesterday, we featured two devotions from Hope for Hard Days by Max Lucado. You can read them here and then continue reading below.
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Your life is like a mist. You can see it for a short time, but then it goes away. — James 4:14
You, as with all God’s children, live one final breath from your own funeral.
Which, from God’s perspective, is nothing to grieve. He responds to these grave facts with this great news:
The day you die is better than the day you are born. — Ecclesiastes 7:1 NLT
Now, there is a twist.
Heaven enjoys a maternity-ward reaction to funerals.
Angels watch body burials the same way grandparents monitor delivery-room doors: “He’ll be coming through any minute!”
They can’t wait to see the new arrival. While we’re driving hearses and wearing black, they’re hanging streamers and celebrating. We don’t grieve when babies enter the world. The hosts of heaven don’t weep when we leave it.
The angels don’t weep at the thought of death, but do you? Do you dread death? And is that dread robbing you of the joy of life? Is it keeping you from fully stepping into the life you were created to live? Because that’s why Jesus came. To free you from death’s sting. Death isn’t an ending; it’s the turn of a page and a step into a glorious new chapter.
When fear and dread creep into your heart, don’t let them rob you of today’s joy, of today’s adventures. Instead, remember why Jesus did what He did.
My Scripture of Hope
Since these children are people with physical bodies, Jesus Himself became like them. He did this so that, by dying, He could destroy the one who has the power of death — the devil. — Hebrews 2:14–15
God’s Promise of Hope to Me
- Death has no power over me. Jesus has taken away its sting. I don’t have to worry about what comes next because Jesus is already there waiting for me.
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Jesus Will Come!
Jesus, who has been taken up from you into Heaven, will come in the same way as you have watched Him go into Heaven. — Acts 1:11 NASB
Jesus will come! Not “may come” or “might come.” Jesus will come!
His promised return is not a nebulous, vapid, cross-your-fingers aspiration. It is a concrete, guaranteed appearance of our Savior.
Jesus validated His return by vacating His tomb. This was the conviction of the apostle Paul:
The truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries. — 1 Corinthians 15:20 MSG
Is the tomb of Jesus empty? Did He defang death? Did Christ discard His shroud like a bad habit and march out of the tomb?
The resounding answer is “Yes.” His tomb floor has the prints of pierced feet. Those feet were nailed to a cross on Friday and lifeless in the grave on Saturday. But on Sunday the hope of Easter called them to stand, step up, and walk out of the grave. When Jesus vacated the tomb, He populated the heart of humanity with hope.
There are a lot of unknowns in this world. But there is one thing you can know without a shadow of a doubt: Jesus will return. The how, when, and where are a mystery, but the why is not.
Because God loves you. He knew right from the start that you were going to need hope in this hard world. So He sent His Son.
My Scripture of Hope
In God’s great mercy He has caused us to be born again into a living hope, because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. — 1 Peter 1:3 NCV
God’s Promise of Hope to Me
- God is merciful and good. Because Jesus rose again, I have the hope — the promise — of eternity with Him.
Excerpted with permission from Hope for Hard Days by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.
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Your Turn
Because of Jesus, we don’t have to be afraid of death anymore. It isn’t the end… it’s just the beginning! Jesus will return and take us Home someday and if our bodies die before that Day, we will rise with Him! Hallelujah! ~ Devotionals Daily