Because He Lives...

God sent His son, they called Him Jesus
He came to love, heal, and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

And then one day I'll cross the river,
I'll fight life's final war with pain.
And then as death gives way to victory,
I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives.

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He lives, All fear is gone!
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living just because He lives!

Words: Bill & Gloria Gaither

I've been humming this song throughout the day today. My heart sings this song in celebration of what my Saviour did for me when He died on the cross to set me free from facing the penalty for my sins...death and separation from Him. Because He rose from the dead and lives, I have the privilege to accept his free gift of salvation and know that once I made him the Lord of my Life, that I too will one day conquer death and live in eternity with Him.

My heart also sings this song today in hopes of adding much needed balm on a fresh wound. You see, this is the first Easter without my earthly father. My father died suddenly on March 23rd at age 77.

I've been composing a tribute to honor the amazing legacy he left behind for all of us who were blessed enough to spend time with him and know him, but the newness of travelling down this path of grief has kept me from being able to write something worthy of the life he lived. I know God will give me the words when it's time.

But for now, I have the joy and assurance that because my father also accepted Jesus to be Lord and Saviour of his life, that he is celebrating Easter in a way that we can only imagine.

What about you? Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that when your time on earth is over that you'll be stepping into eternity holding firmly to the hand of God? Can you say with confidence, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death , is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55) as you contemplate the end of your life?

"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." (1 Cor. 15:56,57)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

I pray tonight, as the end of another Easter Celebration winds down, that you have the assurance written about in the hymn at the beginning of this post.

It is only because He lives that I can face the many tomorrows of missing my Dad terribly.

It is only because He lives that all fear of 'life without my Dad in it' is gone.

It is only because He lives that life is worth the living...even a life that has taken a painful u-turn.

It is only because the One who holds my future loved me enough to die on the cross for me, that I can celebrate, even with a tear-stained face, that my father has 'crossed the river' and has seen the 'lights of glory'.

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!!!