2 Peter 3:9 NASB
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

To whom it may concern. May Christ become real to you. In Jesus name, Amen.

One wet afternoon, I strolled by an old church. I love the beautiful architecture of British cathedrals… so grand, majestic, with their large stained-glass windows, dramatic arches and bold features. They are awe-striking to the onlooker, and they seem like something the Lord Himself would design. In front of the church, I saw a series of tablets. They were gravestones. They surrounded a large area of soil, positioned together to form a kind of retaining wall. Most of these stones were completely covered in moss, making it too difficult to make out what was originally written on them. But on one of them, I managed to decipher what was engraved. In a beautiful cursive font, it read:

“Sacred to the memory of Christina, wife of John Bays, who departed this life February 3rd, 1831.”

All will depart from this life. Death is the one thing promised to us all on this spinning ball of doom. Dear friend, I know not your height or stature. I know not your wisdom or intelligence. I know not your background, your education, your history. And I need not know a thing about you… but I promise you this: one day, it will be your name on a tombstone, and so too will it be with me.

And oh, the sting of death! The single cause of so much pain in this life. How merciless, how pitiless is that entity. It has no morals, no friends, no affiliates. It targets both those on the broad way and those on the narrow path. Oh death, how many lives you have changed. How severe the effects of your shadow. Even those who are not your direct victims, but who knew your victims, how bitter the taste in their mouths. The bringer of many tears, many cries; the orchestrator of funerals, the catalyst of mourning. Oh death, oh death. What a power you are! Who can escape your grasp?

When lust has conceived, it brings forth sin, and when sin is fully grown, it brings forth death. Oh death, how final is your sentence! Many wicked have you slain; many righteous have you captured. A devious being, with a personality and an agenda… Oh death, oh death, all will cross your path.

Acts 2:24 NASB
BUT GOD raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.

I thank my God that I need not fear such a being anymore. I thank my God! Who has given me victory through Christ Jesus. Dear friend, dear friend, the Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Believe in Jesus, and receive eternal life. Be free from the power of death!

Revelation 1:12-18 NASB
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

John 11:25 NASB
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,