That is how you stand firm

I wrote these thoughts 8 years ago today, just a few hours before Bev died.  As I thought about that day I found the devotion that I wrote that morning while in great anguish. The words are still true and worth repeating, not just in the face of death, but as we begin a New Year.  “That is how you stand firm.”

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“Oh, how can I do this?” Bev asked me sorrowfully as we both sensed that the days ahead were about to become even more difficult. Perhaps I merely state the obvious, but there is no escaping that dying is hard. There is grief, loss of dignity, and frequently terrible bodily pain. Bev was not alone in musing about how to travel that road hopefully. I too wondered - in my own thoughts - “How can I do this?”  The hospice resources offered practical advice: “Keep friends close. Use music to soothe the troubled soul. Follow familiar faith practices. Talk with people who understand and empathize. Try to get regular rest.”  We have done all those things, and yet . . .   the sorrow is crushing, the pain of spirit unlike any earthly ache I have ever known.

Prayerfully today, I turn to the wisdom that is from above and find an old, new truth.  The only way to endure is to remember Heaven! When Bev and I were talking and I offered the thought to her that the best way to ‘do this’ was to focus on the Eternal Promise of unending Life in Heaven. She was not, in that moment, greatly encouraged! She is a fighter and, up until a few days ago, was determined to stay with me and her family as long as possible. We love what and who we can see, touch, and hold. Still, we can only walk the road though the valley of the shadow when we have Heaven in our heart. 

Paul says it this way:  "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!" (Philippians 3:20-4:1, NIV)

Have you Heaven in your heart, your mind, and your soul? I am nearer heaven these days as my wife lays dying in the next room. She has slipped beyond my words and no longer can respond to my caress.

The sense of loss would be beyond description except for that hope that I possess in faith- “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (John 14:1-3, NLT) I am glad that I am not attempting to make reservations at this late hour!  Long ago, Bev and I put our trust in the One who saves, who makes us alive forevermore.  Have you?

The word from the Word steadies me on this rocky way.  Though sad, I am not hopeless. My prayer is that the Truth will steady you, too. "When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55, NIV)  "Therefore, my dear brothers, 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 15:58, NIV)

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As we begin 2024, we may find the promise of new beginnings. There are also many who live with the gathering dark clouds of tragedy. The drumbeat of war grows more intense. The political scene is chaotic. But in all of this we who are ‘in Christ’ can ‘stand firm’ because we have our sights set on a home eternal, promised by God who is unchanging. So, “That is how you stand firm.”

May you find in Him a blessed New Year.

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Graves Into Gardens

I searched the world but it couldn't fill me

Man's empty praise and treasures that fade

Are never enough

Then You came along and put me back together

And every desire is now satisfied here in Your love

 

Oh there's nothing better than You

There's nothing better than You

Lord there's nothing

Nothing is better than You

 

I'm not afraid to show You my weakness

My failures and flaws

Lord You've seen them all

And You still call me friend

'Cause the God of the mountain

Is the God of the valley

There's not a place

Your mercy and grace won't find me again

 

You turn mourning to dancing

You give beauty for ashes

You turn shame into glory

You're the only one who can

You turn graves into gardens

You turn bones into armies

You turn seas into highways

You're the only one who can

Brandon Lake | Chris Brown | Steven Furtick | Tiffany Hudson

© 2019 Brandon Lake Music; Maverick City Publishing Worldwide; Music by Elevation Worship Publishing; Bethel Music Publishing

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