Hello John and Doves,

 

A few months ago, I had the difficult task of taking my beloved dog, Jazzy, into the vet to have the vet 'send her back to God for repairs'  This was certainly not the first time I've had to make such a trip.  Everyone of them has been hard and it never gets easier.  It's something many of us have experienced...some, many times. It goes with having, caring for, and loving one of God's creations that He has entrusted into our care.

 

I think 'pets' are God's way of keeping us from focusing on ourselves too much and getting caught up in our lives.  If we let them, they can teach us many lessons about life and death, of love, and friendship and companionship, and joy.  I see them as having a direct line to God. They don't need a Savior, like us. 

 

Each pet I have had in my life, I have considered a treasure from the Lord.  And Jesus tells us "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  So, part of my heart is already in Heaven.  Each was a gift to me here.  Each gave me love, friendship, and comfort.  Each brought joy into my existence.  My life has been substantially better and brighter because of them.  Because of Him who created them.

 

As each has left this world, I see them as little lights that went out, leaving the world a darker place.  I understand, because of them, when Jesus says He is the light of the world, because I see how when one life passes, it gets a bit more darker  - without Him, the world would be plunged into total darkness.  He is the giver of life and light.  We are all lights in this world - all His creation - lighting it up for everyone around us. 

 

Jesus told us, "I am the light of the world:  he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life."  John 8:12  And He told us we are lights in the world, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."  Matthew 5:16

 

I notified a few family members and close friends about my dog's trip to Heaven...some time later I received in the mail a memorial gift for my dog from a family friend - it was a plaque that could be used as a grave marker or hung on the wall or set on a stand on a dresser.

 

Written on this plaque was, "If love could have save you...you would have lived forever."  Along with embedded paw prints.  It's very well done.

 

In reading this, it dawned on me, it was exactly that - LOVE HAS saved us!  And love 

saved my dog!  God's animals do not need a Saviour, they go directly to God.  But we humans, through the gift of Jesus Christ we are covered by His blood and if we accept His gift of love...we too can live forever.

 

Love had indeed saved us.  And because of His love, His sacrifice, His shedding of blood for our sins, His taking our punishment upon Himself...we will live forever.  Forever with Him through eternity.  What a marvelous gift!  What a comfort to us while we are here.

 

Paul tells us that what we go through here - the toil and trouble, the suffering - will all be worth it.  He wrote, "For the momentary affliction we experience now is producing for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison."  2 Cor. 4:17

 

I have no absolutely no doubt that when animals die, they go to God.  To Heaven.  God's love is boundless and we can not put a limit on His love.   After all He loved them so much - He saved them from the flood.  His love saves them too.  There is no limit to God's love.

 

I decided to place this plaque where I could see it every day - reminding me of my mortality and of the incredible gift I have been offered and which I accept. That saves me and provides me a place, a life - an eternal life - with my Creator.  And that love is for my dog, Jazzy, too.  He has always loved her more than me.

 

I have absolutely no doubt my dogs, my cats, my horses will be in Heaven with me.  That there is a bond that God Himself created that He honors - a bond of love that keeps us forever chained together.

 

Paul tells us, "But now these three things abide:  faith, hope, love; the the greatest of these is love."  1 Cor. 13:13

 

Some forty years ago, my father took us kids to a 'long, forgotten' little cemetery on the bluffs near the town I grew up in.  There was a beautifully carved large granite tombstone created for a young woman who had died at about 19 years old.  Probably from diphtheria that ripped through the area in the late 1890s.

 

On her tombstone was carved the words, "Another link is broken in our family band, but a chain is forming in a better land."  Along with several links of a chain carved into the stone.

 

Link by link we have family in a huge chain of generations of people in Heaven, waiting for us - until the chain is complete and the last link is added.

 

There is no 'if' to "If love could have saved you...".  There is no 'could' to "If love could have save you..."...Love DID save you!  And there is more than enough love to save us - all of us!....so we too can live forever with God, with family, friends, and our beloved pets that God created to be lights to us in this life.

 

A friend asked me one time, "Why do dogs have such short lives?"  Before I could answer, she said, "Oh, so we can love so many more of them."  Sounded good to me.  And I have many waiting for me for I have loved many.

 

To all of you who have lost loved ones from this earth, who have had pets pass over too, may God comfort you and give you peace.  You are a link in that grand chain.  

 

May your chain be long, may your treasures be many.  May you find comfort in knowing His LOVE has us covered.

 

And there is more than enough love for all of us!

 

 

Love HAS saved us!  And we will live forever!   Amen!

 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

 

Maranatha!

 

Chance