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As I listened the other day to FoxNews, I heard the most precious story of a couple married for 72 years. By now, you’ve probably heard about them. But I just couldn’t help writing about them.

Gordon Yeager proposed to his sweetheart the day before Norma graduated from high school. They were married the next day, the day she graduated, May 26, 1939.

They were always by each other’s side. Each saying they had to “stick around” for the other. They truly enjoyed being together, even though they had their arguments.

On October 12, 2011, Norma and Gordon suffered extensive injuries in a car accident. They were rushed to the hospital and put in ICU. The hospital workers knew not to separate them and pushed their beds together. They held hands even after the morphine took affect and they became unresponsive.

The injuries were more than their bodies could withstand or recover from and at 3:38 p.m., Gordon died.

The son noticed that his father had stopped breathing but his heart had continued to register on the heart monitor. Confused, he asked the nurse about it.

She told him that because the two were holding hands, Gordon’s machine was picking up Norma’s heartbeat...her heart was beating through him.

Exactly one hour later, at 4:38 p.m., Norma died.

Hand in hand in life; hand in hand in death.

Sharing one casket, they held hands. After cremation, their ashes were mixed together.

Such a sweet love story. They had their ups and downs but always wanted to be with each other.

The one thing that blew me away was...her heartbeat beating through him. One heartbeat beating as two. One heartbeat of a living one beating through one dead to this world.

Isn’t that what the Lord wants for us? To be dead to this world yet have His heart beating within us? To be connected to Him throughout life, walking hand in hand. And in death, still holding His hand.

In the chilly dampness of the early morning hours, the woman gropes her way through the dark city streets of Jerusalem. Carrying only a small oil lamp to light her way, Mary Magdalene is joined by Joanna, Salome, and Mary, the mother of James. Leaving the city, they wend their way to the dew-moistened garden where Jesus had been buried.

Dressed in their mourning apparel and blurry-eyed from their tears of grief, they enter the garden of the tomb, carrying the spices to anoint Jesus’ body.

The first glints of sunlight peek over the horizon as they approach the tomb. The ground shakes violently as an angel appears and rolls back the large stone covering the tomb’s entrance. The angel says, “Do not be afraid; Jesus is not here. He is risen! Go and tell the others.”

Terrified, Mary Magdalene rushes to get Peter and John and returns with them to the tomb. With their hearts pounding in fear and lungs struggling for air, the men enter the tomb and frantically survey the surroundings until their eyes rest on the stone slab, where only the death cloths lay.

Seeing that the body of Jesus is not there, the disciples rush back to tell the others.

While the other women wait outside the tomb, Mary Magdalene stoops down to look inside. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she turns to leave and encounters a man, who asks, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”

Assuming him to be the gardener, “‘Sir,’ she asks, ‘if you have taken Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will go and get Him.’” (John 20:15 NLT)

“Mary,” He whispers compassionately.

Recognizing a familiar voice, she gasps, “Rabboni!” and falls at His feet in worship.

I have been a Mary Magdalene. . .a follower of the Lord yet not being able to find Him. I wandered around for relentless hours, with stinging tears spilling down my cheeks, weeping in pain, sorrow, and loss. I searched the tomb of the world and found it emptied of dreams, hopes, and purposes.

My restoration came when I realized my Saviour had stood beside me all along, compassionately whispering my name. When I heard His loving voice, I fell at His feet in worship.

Have you ever been a Mary Magdalene? Do you weep over loss of dreams, hopes, or purposes? Pain, sorrow, or circumstance? Do you stand at the tomb, wearing the grave clothes of mourning, wondering where Jesus is?


Just as Mary Magdalene met Christ in an unexpected way, so your Easter experience comes to you in your hour of despair. Jesus will be there beside you to comfort you, compassionately whispering your name and asking, “Why do you weep? Whom do you seek?”

Jesus always brings you hope of resurrection as on that first Easter morn. He comes to lift you up, to wipe away your tears, to release you from your pain, to remove your grave clothes of fear and depression.

Jesus says to you, “Do not wear the grave-clothes stained with the tears of grief. Come into My garden of beauty and I will give you the robe of Easter’s resurrection gladness. Take My Hand and let Me lead you along the path to life everlasting. I gave My life that you might live eternally with Me.”

He says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26 NKJV)

Do you believe this? Then, weep no more! Fall at His feet and worship Him!

May you know the power of Christ’s Resurrection Life in a deeper way this Easter season.

This is an inspirational video of celebration. I hope you’ll watch it.





Today’s post is part of the Christian Writers Blog Chain on the topic of redemption/resurrection. Check out and enjoy the other contributors’ posts in the left sidebar.

"…you were not redeemed with corruptible things…But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ.”(1 Peter 1:18a NKJV, 1 Peter 1:19a Amp)
I love some of those commercials that show an item, then list the price of something and, at the end, list something that is priceless.

That’s our redemption: priceless! Priceless...in the sense that we could never repay Christ for the redemption we have received.

But for Him: a very costly price. His life. But still...an unmeasured, priceless gift to us.

Jesus Christ released His earthly life to die an excruciating death on a cruel cross. Is there a greater sacrifice? The disciple John wrote, “There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13 NLT)

You are that special friend of Jesus; you are worth every drop of blood that He shed and paid for you. If you have accepted that sacrificial offer, you are the precious Bride of Christ, the Beloved Bridegroom.

Jesus paid the asking price for His Bride, “a single sacrifice for our sins [that shall avail] for all time,” (Heb. 10:12a Amp) “who gave Himself a ransom on behalf of all.” (1 Tim. 2:6 NKJV)

The Greek word for ransom, in the above verse, is used only this once in the Bible and means the redemption price of a slave or captive, that which is offered in exchange for another.

In that covenant exchange, Christ suffered death in our stead that we might walk in newness of His risen Life. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10 NKJV)

Redeeming us from our sins and ultimate spiritual death, Christ became our Kinsman-Redeemer, for He “purchased our freedom [redeeming us] from the curse (doom) of the Law [and its condemnation] by [Himself] becoming a curse for us.” (Gal. 3:13 Amp)

The Greek meaning of the word used for redeem, I think, beautifully describes what Christ did for us. It means to ransom, to rescue one from loss to improve opportunity, to purchase one for his freedom from another’s power by paying a price to recover him, or to buy up for one’s self or own use.

He exchanged His life for yours. He redeemed your life to improve it, to give you abundant Life. He purchased you from the power of the enemy, redeeming you from a life of drudgery, from servitude to sin, from eternal loss, as He said, “So that anyone who believes in Me will have eternal life.” (John 3:15 TLB)

Great agony and heartache were the price of your redemption. Truly you are not your own. You were bought with a price.

Love and redemption: priceless!

May you know that Eternal Life that surges through your precious, blood-bought soul. And may the Lord reveal to you His presence in some special way this Easter season.

photo courtesy of kxande2 @ flickr

Today, I share with you a portion of something the Lord spoke to me some years ago. As always, His words changed me. From His heart to yours…

“Every time you have an intense trial or you wonder where I am, you must learn to quickly realize that the devil knows that something good is about to happen - that I am about to bring about some great thing into your life and he is going all-out to thwart My every plan and purpose.

This intense time must be spent repeating My words and praising Me. This is your only way out. This is a break-through time and it must be spent concentrating on Me. The devil will do anything to bring you down and he especially preys on these intense times because he knows that, if he can get you to stop praising, then your focus is shifted away from Me and onto your problem.

Learn to quickly see his hand at work and to even more quickly begin to praise Me more. Praise is the devil's death-knell (At which point, He told me to look up the meaning of knell, which means to ring in a slow, solemn way, to sound ominously or mournfully, toll, warning sound, extinction or failure of something, any sound announcing the death of a person or the end, or the sound of a bell rung slowly as at a funeral. Then, He continued.)

Now you understand how important it is to praise Me. Praising Me brings the devil to his knees and is excruciating to his ears. When you praise Me, you bring glory to Me and he cannot stand in My glory. He intends to bring you down but I intend to bring you up - up with Me. The more intense the pain and suffering, the more intense should be your praising.”

Praise gets the attention of both God and the enemy! It becomes a two-edged sword.

After the Lord rescued David from Saul and his other enemies, David wrote, “I will call on Jehovah, Who is to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.” (Ps. 18:3 Masoretic Text)

If we express that verse according to its definitions, it might say, “When I summon Jehovah by Name, Who is worthy of being celebrated in praise, I shall be safe, preserved, rescued from and have victory over my enemies!” How great is that? All because God’s glory in praise prevails over darkness!

The Lord told Moses, “When you go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresses you, then blow an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies.” (Num. 10:9 Amp) Our praise is that trumpet of alarm preparing the path for God to deliver us from our enemy.

David knew his praises of God would bring down his enemies and said to Him, “From the lips of children and infants You have ordained praise because of Your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” (Ps. 8:2 NIV)

The worst sound in the ears of the enemy is praise from the lips of one of God’s children. The enemy hates it.

I have learned to praise God no matter what. When my day is darkened with a multitude of problems that need to “take a ticket, take a seat,” and the songs of my heart begin to stick in my throat, do I still sing to Him anyway? You bet!

When my eyes spill over with the tears of heartache, do I still look to Him and praise Him? Absolutely!

When chaos invades my world, do I still claim His peace and praise Him? Yes, indeedy! For “I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of His glories and grace.” (Ps. 34:1 TLB) Amen!

How about you? Do you still praise the Lord no matter what the circumstances?

May the Lord’s intimate words seep deep within your being and rise up as the oil of praise and be poured out upon His head.

“God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.”
(Matt. 5:4 NLT)

I went to a funeral the other day. A very precious friend’s husband died.

As I sat there listening to the trembling voices, soaked in tears, and the preacher’s words of tribute, I cried along with the family and friends.

Separation from a loved one brings grief, but the Lord brings His comfort. The Lord said, “He has sent Me to comfort the brokenhearted.” (Is. 61:1 TLB)

When a loved on is no longer with us, the afterglow of his or her presence lingers on in our hearts and in all the hearts of his/her loved ones on earth long after that one has left our sight. The beauty of such a person never dies, for he or she leaves behind so much of themselves. Our hearts are always illuminated by the memories of their smile, their laughter, their kind words, the touch of their hand, and, if they are a Christian, their love for God.

When we lose a loved one who loved the Lord, we may also look at it this way: Of the roses that climb the garden wall, some will blossom on the other side, being hidden from our view, but the vine keeps them all joined together.

And so it is with the wall of death. It merely hides the other side; it does not divide. Our loved ones who have gone on to be with Jesus may be hidden from our view, but they have just blossomed on the other side. And, if we, who remain here, are also in Christ, then we are all united together, because the Vine keeps us together.

Mourning encompasses more than the heartache of losing a loved one. We mourn when a loved one goes astray in his/her marriage and divorce results, distressing the children. Or when s/he makes wrong decisions and ends up in jail or addicted to some substance.

We mourn for our own mistakes and regrets, for fallen heroes, for abused children, for children kidnapped and forced into sex trafficking, or for those caught in a natural or some other disaster.

There is “a time to weep,” as Ecclesiastes 3:4 NKJV tells us. But what did our opening verse say? “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” In all our mourning, the Lord blesses us with His comfort.

David knew the Lord’s comfort and we are blessed with David’s thoughts and writings in the book of Psalms. David wrote, “My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life” (Ps. 119:50 NIV), “May Your unfailing love be my comfort” (Ps. 119:76 NIV), and “Let Your compassion come to me that I may live” (Ps. 119:77 NIV).

In His care for us, God sent Jesus “to comfort all who mourn” (Is. 61:2b NIV), “to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Is. 61:3 NIV).

David wrote, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Ps. 147:3 NKJV)

Trust in those words.

It is God’s promise to you.

Those that mourn shall be comforted…with the Lord’s presence.

If mourning is a part of your life right now, I pray the Lord blesses you with His presence and His comfort.

Have you ever walked through an old section of a cemetery? You can find such interesting headstones there. Some of the things written on them can be silly, sad, serious, or sentimental. Here are a few I found…

*“Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal”
*“Gone from our sight but never our memories, gone from our touch but never our hearts”
*This is a classic one: “I told you I was sick!”
*And I love this one: On a gravestone from the 1880s in Nantucket, Massachusetts:

Under the sod and under the trees
Lies the body of Jonathan Pease.
He is not here, there’s only the pod:
Pease shelled out and went to God.

What will take you out of this world? Will it be like poor ol’ Fred in the photo? “Here lies good old Fred; a great big rock fell on his head.”

You never know when you will take your last breath. It could be in the next hour, tomorrow, or fifty years from now.

We are all allowed only so many days on earth. So, what do we do with them? Do we fill our days with choices that will affect ourselves and others in a way that is positive or negative?

Do we consider ourselves as worthy as the Lord does so that we don’t step out of His safe boundaries by making wrong choices?

You are worthy; God’s Word says so, for He thinks enough of you to give you a part of Himself when you accept His salvation. As the apostle Paul said, “Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that He lives within you?” (1 Cor. 6:19a TLB)

What Paul wrote to the Colossian believers is for us as well. He prayed that they would “walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Col. 1:10 NKJV)

Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians is also for us. He pointed out that their “daily lives should not embarrass God but bring joy to Him Who invited you into His Kingdom to share His glory.” (1 Thess. 2:12 TLB)

How, then, do we make the right decisions to honor the Lord within us? What will keep us within His safe borders? The answer? Knowing the Lord, staying rooted in His Word, and trusting Him to help us make the right choices.

Scripture tells us how to make our days worthwhile through the words of Solomon, “I, Wisdom, will make the hours of your day more profitable and the years of your life more fruitful” (Prov. 9:11 TLB), and Isaiah, “I shall walk carefully all my years.” (Is. 38:15b NKJV)

If headstone engravings are a miniscule summation of a person’s life, what is the most important part? Some of you may know. Give up? It’s the dash. The dash between the dates.

Are you walking carefully through your years, your dash days? What did you do last year? Yesterday? What will you do today, tomorrow, or throughout the rest of your time on earth?

The effects of the decisions you make in your lifetime leave telltale signs of your character, and that is what people will remember about your dash days.

At the end of the day, when your head hits that pillow and you look back over your day, do you find that you wasted it or made it worthwhile? Will you have to live with any consequences to your choices? As the old saying goes, “As you make your bed, so must you lie in it.”

This reminds me of the old comedy series Happy Days in which Fonzi once said, as his own twist on that saying, “You make your bed bad, you get wrinkles!” He was right! If you make your life’s bed bad by making the wrong decisions, you get wrinkles in your life!

So, what makes up your day-bed life? Lush sheets of stinginess, a comfortable mattress of misbehavior, a puffy pillow of pride, and all covered over with a blanket of bitterness?

Or is it made up with kindness, good deeds, comforting and encouraging words, and saying “no” to things you know will bring negative results in your life or in another’s life?

When all of your days come to an end, what will others engrave on your headstone? Will the words tell of how you lived your dash? Will your dash be wasted or worthwhile?

We live in an older neighborhood. It’s your average-middle-class-built-in-the-’70s-typical-ranch-at-the-end-of-a-quiet-cul-de-sac kind of house.

The houses sit fairly close together, so our backdoor window and kitchen window overlook our driveway and the neighbor’s side and back yards. Standing as a wall of separation along the edge of the driveway is the neighbor’s chain-link fence, where the previous owner loved to plant things. The fruits of her labor protrude over the fence, concealing the chain-links in a wall of green foliage.

The other morning, as I waited for my second cup of coffee to reheat in the microwave, I looked out the backdoor window to enjoy the view of my side of the garden. The brightness of spring had pounced out from behind winter’s shadows and awakened the neighbor’s sleeping rosebush with streams of sunlight beaming down along the fence.

As I stared at this now fifteen foot tall “bush,” the profuseness of its cheery rosebuds, thrusting themselves into the sunshine, looked like little, pink heads with pixy faces, straining to absorb every ounce of warmth and light from the sun that was possible.

As the little, pixy heads had blossomed on our side of the fence, their beauty was obscured from the neighbor’s view. I thought, “Lord, the neighbors aren’t enjoying these beauties as much as we are.”

Then, the Lord impressed me with the thought that this is a picture of death with its wall of separation. Though obscured from our view, those who have left this earthly life have, in reality, blossomed on life’s other side.

If Jesus said that those who believe in Him have everlasting life and that He was the vine, then those of us, as believers in Christ, who continue in our earthly existence remain united with those in heaven. Though physically separated, we continue to be linked together through the eternal life of the Vine.

A smile then spread across my face, as the Lord whispered to my spirit, “The beauties of life on your side of heaven may fade and disappear, but they gain a new quality as they blossom on My side of heaven’s fence. Just as the outburst of beauty of My roses comes from leaning into the sun, so, too, the beauty of My children comes from leaning into My Son. Whether on earth or here with Me, their beauty explodes in profuseness when they lean into their Source of warmth, peace, love, and joy.”

Filled with that peace, love, and joy from my companionship with my Source, I took my coffee, walked into the family room, and leaned into the warmth of the Son.

Prayer: “Father, I thank You that, because of Your love for us all, You sent Jesus to be our connecting Vine to eternal life. As we are each a part of the Vine as a branch, we are connected to that eternal life, and death has no separation from You.”