No more tears

Tyler and Chelsea 2001

I woke up at 3:30 this morning.  I really don't do that often. But when I woke up, I thought about Chelsea. 

I wrote this devotional after God kept putting Eternity in my head.  I've been feeling overwhelmed with all the pain that so many of my friends are enduring.  I know this is not our home, but it still hurts to see people suffer.

The devotional didn't come easy this morning.  I started out in one direction and this is where I ended up.  There will come a day - no more tears.

After I completed my devotional, Larry called.  As he was taking Tyler to school he had gotten a call.  The call we didn't want.  Chelsea passed away in night.  My heart is broken.  My prayer
is that Chelsea is running with her buddy Max, full of life and joy.  I have to believe God has a very special place for our pets.  They give more unconditional love than many of us ever experience.  That love is from God because God is love,  and I just can't imagine it doesn't live on.

http://youtu.be/k8gkDiTvloc - There Will Be A Day - Jeremy Camp

Isaiah 40:31 NLT
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.


http://youtu.be/fa8w7mGug0c - I will rise - Chris Tomlin

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT
For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

I don't like it when good people suffer. 

I know the reality is we live in a fallen world. Ever since Eve believed the serpent when he said "you won't surely die", this world did begin to die.  God created everything perfect.  At the end of each day of Creation, God saw that what He had created was good.  Then the serpent came along.  And the perfect existence that God created began to die.  The serpent was wrong.

Bad things happen - not because of God but because of the Enemy.  Because sin came into the world through one man - Adam, we all are sinners.  But praise God!  Because of one Man - Jesus, we can all be redeemed.

The Garden of Eden is no more.  Our choice - not God's.  We chose to believe the Liar.  But God is so gracious.  He made a way for us, to lift us up out of this fallen world.  He has prepared a place for us with Him for Eternity.  The price?

The perfect Lamb of God had to die for our sins.  Those who accept His gift are forgiven. Our old life died with Jesus on the Cross and was buried with Him.  Just as He was resurrected from the grave, we, too, are raised to a new life. 

In this world we will have troubles.  John 16:33 - "...Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”  Because of Jesus, I have a new life that will last forever.  Bad things happen in this world, and I don't like it.  I don't like seeing people hurt and suffer.  But we believers have a future so much greater than we imagine. Compared to my future with Christ, the worries and cares of this world will seem like nothing.  That's hard to understand when I'm in the middle of the pain.  But I hold on to that promise. I fix my eyes on things that cannot be seen.  I focus on the realities of my home in heaven - not on this temporary earthly life.  My real life - everything I thing, do or say, should be focused on my Eternal Home.


Colossians 3:1-3
Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.  Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
1 John 2:15-17 NLT
Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 
For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 
And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

http://youtu.be/k8gkDiTvloc - There Will Be A Day - Jeremy Camp


Father thank You for Chelsea and her sweet little spirit.  Please keep her safe in Your care until we can meet again in Eternity. Thank You for the hope we have because of what Jesus did for us.  Thank You for the home You have prepared for us with You.  Help me keep my eyes on that Hope and not be distracted by the pain and suffering we endure while on this earth.  Our future is with You.  In Jesus' precious Name I pray. Amen. 



Our grandson Bobby praying with Chelsea.  Bobby's sisters
had left him alone in the backyard and
he was asking God to help him not be afraid. 
It almost looks as if Chelsea has her eyes closed, too.