Well, thank you for coming back to church tonight, even though you knew who was preaching, and so I appreciate that and everything. I'm sure Brother Randy probably didn't tell you all I was coming, and you just showed up this morning. Oh, Brother Luke's here. Okay, good deal. So I'm glad you came back tonight, and that always makes a preacher feel better whenever you do. And if you have your Bibles, turn to 1 Kings, 1 Kings, and we will jump right into The word of God, I appreciate your hospitality, kindness, and just the fellowship this morning. It was great. And so looking forward to the service tonight. We're gonna get up early in the morning and head out. We'll probably leave about 4.30 or so in the morning, head back home. And that way we got a half a day or so to get some stuff done tomorrow. And so it's been good. Just a little bit about us and what all's going on. We've been on the road a lot here lately. And so I was telling somebody the other day, it's been crazy in the last 14 or 15 weeks we've been 24 churches in 19 states and so it's just been crazy where all we have been and so this is actually my last meeting for a couple weeks and so so that is I guess that's not a blessing necessarily but it's just good to be home and to sleep in your own bed and everything and so a lot of stuff has been neglected you know I leave brother David home to try to get some stuff done and I just get home and I don't really know what all's done so Anyhow, so I'm gonna get home, we're just gonna jump right in there and start gutting the dining hall, or the kitchen part of the dining hall and all that kind of stuff here in the next few weeks, and just a bunch of projects going on. And I know people think camp is seven months away, but for us it's right around the corner, because we have a lot to do in the next seven months. And so pray for us on that, and then we'll start traveling again pretty heavily after the first of the year. So the Lord's awful good to us, and I wouldn't trade serving Him for anything else in the world. So I'm thankful for that. 1 Kings chapter number 18. And let's jump into the Bible here. The Bible says, let's look in verse number 25. We'll read quite a bit of scripture. The Bible says, Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, choose you one bullet for yourselves and address it first for you are many and call them the name of your gods, but put no fire under it. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice nor any that answered. and they leapt upon the altar which was made and it came to pass that noon that Elijah mocked them and said, cry aloud for he is a God, either he is talking or he is pursuing or he is in a journey or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awake. So I do love that part of the story. I have a little portion of me that sometimes can be a smart aleck, just a small portion. It's a very, very small portion. So that portion of me absolutely loves right here what Elijah did to them. You know, he's like, okay, he's on a journey, he's on vacation, your God checked out, you know, whatever. So I love it. So he's making fun of these false prophets. And then the Bible says that it came to pass, verse 29, that when midday was passed, that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, and there was neither voice nor any to answer, listen to this sad statement right here. This is just one of the sad statements in the Bible, in the Old Testament here, nor any that regarded. Nor any that regarded. What that basically means is that no one cared. No one cared. You know how sad that statement is? Here are the men, this isn't the message, I'll get to the message in just a minute, but here are the men, and they're the prophets, they're supposed to be the spiritual ones, they're supposed to be the leaders of the nation, and here they are, they're doing all of these antics, and they're making this big commotion, and they're doing all of this stuff. No one cared. There wasn't a God to hear them. You know what's amazing to me is how in the world, as a Christian, I just wonder how in the world someone can live through life where literally when you're in this world without Jesus, no one cares. No one cares. And that's where these men were, and that's where these people were. They were worshiping a God who would never hear them, who would never help them, who's never cared about them a day in their life, and the thankful that we get to serve a Savior who, hey, as the song says, no one ever cared for me like Jesus. Boy, I love it. So, he said, nor that any that regard it, and the Bible says in verse 30, and Elijah said, and all the people come near unto me, and all the people came near. unto him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. and he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two measures of seed and he put the wood in order and he cut the bullock in pieces and he laid him on the wood and said, fill four barrels with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice. Again, this isn't the sermon, but I love the faith that we see right here because Elijah looked at them and he said, I want you to pour the water on a burnt sacrifice. That is past tense, in case you didn't check that out. I'm not an English major. I know how to speak it, but I don't know it. I really don't know how to speak it that well, but I was looking at this, and I was just reading along. Somebody says, you want to get something new out of the Bible? Just read it again. You don't have to go find all these books. I'm not against reading books, and I've got three of them I'm reading right now. working my way through, and I was reading some of them this afternoon. I'm not against that, but honestly, the best commentary on the word of God is the word of God. And so right here, we see this, and I was just reading, I've read it 100 times, and I'm reading through there, and I'm like, man, what faith, because he already knew that God was going to consume the sacrifice, he already knew fire was gonna fall from heaven, he knew it was gonna take place, so he said, pour the water on the burnt, past tense, sacrifice. So then it says in verse 34, and he said, do it a second time, and they did it a second time, and he said, do it a third time, and they did it a third time, and the water ran about the altar, and he filled the trench with water also. And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God, and in Israel, and that I am thy servant. And I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their hearts back again. Verse 38, then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and lifted up the water that was in the trench. and when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, he is the God. The Lord, he is the God. That statement that they just made, the Lord, he is the God, was the goal of this entire story. He wasn't, calling down fire from heaven so that people would say, well, that was really neat. He wasn't putting on a show for people. Rather, everything that he did on that mountain was because God had a desire for his people to make the statement again that the Lord, he is the God. God never left his throne. He's always been there. There'll never be anybody who can dethrone him as far as God being almighty and the true God. But many of us in our lives are like God's chosen people. We've dethroned God on our heart. That's just the truth of the matter. And so tonight, we're just gonna jump right in this and we're gonna look at just some stuff that I believe the Lord showed me here and hopefully it'll be a help and a blessing. Lord, we love you, and God, I pray that you'd help us now this evening. I pray you'd bless this sermon, but Lord, I pray it wouldn't be the sermon that helps anybody. Lord, I pray it'd be the Savior that helps somebody tonight. We love you, bless us now, in your name I pray, amen. You know, I love this story. So many times I've read it, and about a year and a half ago, I started, I just, you know how sometimes in your Bible reading, it just becomes that? It just becomes Bible reading? I've been there several times in my life, so when that happens, then I like to just change it up. And so I had gotten to the point where I was just reading through my Bible, just like I normally do, and so it just became that, it just became normal. And this book is not a normal book, this book is not something that, just because it's part of our life every day, hey, and so right here, I just said, I'm tired of it, so what I decided was, I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna find every story in the Bible that I learned as a kid that I'm so familiar with, and I'm just gonna restudy it and just try to find something fresh out of it. So I'm reading this passage, I'm rolling through here, and I'm looking at it, and man, so I just kinda noticed a few things in this passage, and so God sent the fire down from heaven, we probably all learned it, we're here on a sunny night, and probably all have learned it in Sunday school, and we've seen it before, but God sent fire down, so the first thing I noticed really in this passage was this, is that Elijah was prepared for the fire. He was prepared for the fire, he was ready. He didn't come in haphazardly, but he came in with a purpose, on purpose, he did it the way God told him to do it, and he was prepared for fire. He was prepared. Tonight, when I think about this man and how he came in here, he did it exactly how God told him to do it. You notice that the Bible says there in verse number 30, it says that Elijah said, and all the people come near, at the end of the verse it says, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. You know, in order to be prepared for fire, here's what we do. We pray, God, please send revival. Oh God, we need revival. Man, I need you to work in my life. God, I need this. And would you speak to my heart? And we're praying these prayers and we want God to send revival, but we don't want to do any of the work that it takes to be prepared for revival. That's just the truth of the matter. See, he had to come in and fix what was broken. Why was it broken? Well, I thought about this. The altar was broken down because it hadn't been used in a long time. The altar was broken because it had been a while since anybody had sacrificed to the true God, and it had been a while since anybody truly worshipped the true God, and so, therefore, when you just kind of let things sit, they tend to break apart, don't they? I know that at the camp. Whenever things, we winterize and we kind of shut everything down and we get it all ready for winter. It'll sit for six or seven months and not be used and you know it's amazing how toilets start sticking when you flush them and how the flappers are kind of how it wore out, and you start going from place to place, and doorknobs are broken, you're like, man, we didn't even use it all year. But when you just let stuff sit without anybody living there or doing anything with it, it's amazing how it falls apart. And you know, that is the way it is in our Christian life, is that if we are just letting our Christian life sit, so to speak, and we really haven't done much with it, it's amazing how it will break down, and it's amazing how we have so many problems that we need to fix. And so he jumped right in and he said, the first thing I'm gonna do before we can ever get fire to fall is we're gonna fix the broken halter. You know, that would be the same thing I would say to all of us. You're wasting your breath. This may sound bad, but it's true. You're wasting your breath and you're wasting your time and you're wasting your prayers, praying for revival. if you're not willing to fix what's broken. Fire never falls on a broken down altar. It's just the truth. And so the man of God came in and he looked around and he said, man, this altar's broken down. It ain't been used in a long time. Let's fix it back up. You know, I love the idea of the altar. It's amazing we have one of those right here. You know, sometimes the altar in our life will get broken down because we haven't used it for a long time. Say, Brother Luke, you're just saying that so that we leave out of here. You say, man, we had 30 people come to the altar. Did you know I never count who comes to the altar? And do you know a lot of times I don't even pay attention to who does because most of the time I need to be at the altar myself. I don't really need to worry about who's here and who's not. But I will say this, it's amazing how sometimes when we don't use it for a long time, Isn't it funny how it gets kind of awkward when you haven't used it for a while? You start wondering about what people think, what people say. I don't think Elijah was really concerned about what anybody thought. He thought he was the only one that was left. And he knew if fire didn't fall, he was definitely dead. It was done. His life was over. Either it was gonna be a big win or it was gonna be a big loss, so therefore he had to have some big faith. It's amazing. We all know the story of the fire fell. See, he fixed what was broken. He fixed what was broken. He took and he formed the sacrifice. He put it back together. The Bible says that he took the 12 stones for the tribes of Israel and he put them there and he formed the sacrifice. You know, I don't think that Elijah came up with that on his own. I think God told him to do that. I don't believe, you know, God, isn't it amazing how God does everything on purpose? We think it's just a circumstance or a situation that comes to our lives. You know, God knew exactly what he was doing. God, hey, God, I believe, gave him strict instructions of how he was to go in, and how he was gonna live, and how he was gonna perform this, put together this sacrifice, and how he was gonna cut it, and how he was gonna lay it there, and how he was gonna put the bullock in, and how the water was gonna be. I don't think he came up with that on his own. I believe that was God's way. And you know, in my life, I know this, that many times when I try to come up with stuff on my own, I end up messing up, and I go back, and I look, and I'm like, my goodness, it would have been a lot easier just to go ahead and do it God's way the first time. And I'm wondering why the fire's not falling and God's saying it because it's doing it the way you wanna do it instead of the way I wanna do it. Anybody that knows anything about fire knows water and fire do not go together. I mean, it's just common sense. I don't think that was Elijah's plan. I believe that was God's plan. That was God's plan. And my biggest problem is I like to live by Luke's plan. I like my plan. Because I feel like I can see where I'm going. You know what I mean? But my plan don't work. See, my plan makes too much sense to work. It's just the truth of the matter. God's plan never makes sense, but it always works. See, his ways are higher than our ways, remember that? His thoughts, they're higher than our thoughts. It don't make sense, but it works. It works. You know, we can do ourselves a favor whenever we hear When we hear God's plan preached to us and given to us, we see it from the Word of God. And I'll just tell you, any preacher that preaches his own plan and ideas and any preacher, he ain't worth his salt. He needs to preach the Word of God. And I believe you have a man here that preaches the Word of God, okay? And I know that. And here's what happens many times, a preacher will preach on something and people leave out there, can you believe he said that? Man, he's always harping on that. You know, it's funny to me, I was talking to a person one time who was away from God and they got right with God and they said, you know, it's funny, I thought the preacher harped on stuff that I was doing all the time, but come to find out, when I got right with God, he wasn't even preaching about what I was doing. It's just the Holy Spirit. Sometimes whenever we think, oh man, that preacher, he's always preaching on that and he's on his hobby horse and he's on this and he's on that, if it's God's way, get over it. See, he jumped in there and he put things together the way God wanted it to be done. He prepared for fire. He prepared for fire. You know, in order to have revival, or to have the fire of revival in our hearts and our lives tonight, the circumstances gotta be right. In Arkansas, we have what we call a burn ban. Y'all have any of those around here? It's in the summertime, most of the time, when things get really, really dry, and the moisture level gets to a certain point, I don't know what it is, but all I know is this, is if you grab the leaves and grab them and squeeze them together, they crunch together, they're real, real dry, and they'll say this, all right, all you bunch of rednecks, quit burning your trash, quit setting your fields on fire, okay, all this kind of stuff, because we have a burn ban. And the county judge will call and he'll put out one of those robocalls or whatever, you know And you'll pick it up answer and and it'd be Jerry Jones is now declaring a burn ban for Cleveland County, Arkansas Effective until you know notice or whatever and it goes through this whole thing What's that mean? It means that the circumstances are real good for a real big fire And whenever you have a fire get out, then that makes every redneck's day, you know, that joins up for the volunteer fire department, because they wanted to drive the big red truck, you know what I'm talking about, and so they jump in them babies. They can't wait if you're on the volunteer fire department, I apologize, but you know it's true, and so they jump in there, and man, they're rolling, and they can't, but when it's a burn ban, they say don't light your trash on fire, you can't have any fire, because it's such a way that if it gets away from you, you'll never be able to control it, it's just so big. And you know, when we get the circumstances in our life and in our heart in such a way that it is pleasing to God, it's untelling what the fire of revival can do in our heart and in our life. Hey, it'll get away from you. You won't even be able to control it. You won't know what's going on. But I know this, it'll be bigger than you, and God will be blessing you, and you will have revival, but it's not gonna come if the circumstances aren't right. Just not gonna do it. And so he got all the circumstances right. He fixed what was broken. He put the sacrifice together. And God did what God said he was gonna do. So he prepared for fire. Not only that, the Bible goes on and says, And he put the wood in order, verse 33, and cut the bullock in pieces and laid him on the wood and said, fill four barrels with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. So somebody familiar with this story, tell me what's going on weather-wise. Can somebody tell me what's going on weather-wise here? What's going on? Anybody? It's a drought. Wasn't no rain. Yeah, I never really thought about this before. So the sea was over here, but you couldn't drink it. Remember Elijah was by the brook, remember that? What happened to it? Dried up, it's gone. So he tells them to go get four barrels of water and pour it out on the ground when there was no water. I don't even know that the significance of the pouring the water out, I don't know, we'll find out when we get to heaven, but was so much of the fact that we were making the sacrifice wet so it'd be harder to burn. It didn't matter how much water they put on it. When the fire from God fell, it was gonna consume it all. That was not a test for God. So then why did he tell them to pour the water on it if it wasn't a test for God? Let's test those people. Can you imagine what the looks on people's faces were when Elijah, hey, everybody was thirsty. There wasn't any crops. There wasn't any food. There wasn't any water. All the brooks were drying up. And he looked at them and he said, hey, why don't you go grab yourself four barrels? And I don't know how big the barrels were. I don't know if they were a 55 gallon barrel of water. I know this, there was enough water that it poured over the sacrifice and it filled up the trench that was around it. There was quite a bit of water there. Can you imagine the looks on their faces when he looked at them and said, go get four barrels of water and pour it on the ground. Waste it. And there was somebody there who was crazy enough or had enough faith in God and the man of God to say, okay. So they go down to the mountainside. They find four barrels of water and they come back up and could you imagine this man as he comes up and he's got these four barrels of water, maybe it was four different men and they have these four barrels of water and they come up the mountainside and they get there and when they get to the top, maybe their family was standing over to the side and they're looking at them and they realize that this water was so precious, without water you can't live, without water You won't survive, your animals won't survive, your crops won't survive, you have to have water. And so there they are, they get to the top of the mountain, and probably their eyes meet, maybe with his wife as he's looking back and forth, and they're thinking, do you really know what you're doing? You're pouring out what could sustain our family, what could keep us alive, and they get there to the top of the mountain, and they're thinking, whew, I don't know if I can do this. And they take all four of those barrels, and they just upend them. Pour them out, every drop. And if it was me, I'd have sat back and said, whew, glad that's over. You ever done something for the Lord? And when you get done, been like, oh God, I'm glad I'm done with that. Honestly, maybe I'm just more carnal than most people are. Everybody's looking at him like, you are crazy. They're thinking in the back of their mind, am I crazy? And then Elijah looks at him and says, do it a second time. Hold on, God. I've already given you a lot. I've already given you four barrels. You want four more? Reluctantly, down the hill they go. Four more barrels. Back up the hill they come. I don't know if it was the same four men. I don't know if it was four different families. I don't know. They get back up there to the top. Turn them out. Dump them out. One, two, three, four. It's on the ground. Never pick that water up again. It's gone. It's gone. And just about the time that thought crosses their mind of, whoo, man, I'm glad that's done. God says, not yet, it ain't. Do it a third time. 12 barrels of water wasted. You know, that's what everybody was thinking. They didn't know the end of the story like we do. They're standing there, they're watching people pour out the most precious thing that they own, water. They're watching men and literally they're looking at them and maybe their families and their kids are looking at there saying, I just heard dad, overheard dad and mom talking last night and they were saying, man, we're down to our last barrel of water and now dad is pouring it out on the ground. It's precious. It was precious. Not only that, it was personal. That water belonged to somebody. You know, it's funny, when you got plenty of water running around, nobody really cares about it, but when you don't have it... Went down after the Hurricane Katrina, down there years ago, and went down there, and you know what was amazing? The most important thing to all those people? They were bringing in flats and flats and flats of bottled water. There was water everywhere, but you couldn't drink it. It was the most important thing to them. It was precious, and you know, it's funny, because when you gave that bottle of water to a family or to people, they did not just leave it over to the side and say, I'll come back and get it in a little bit. They took it with them, because that was now theirs. And it'd be no different than somebody giving them a flat of water when they had no water and they just take all the bottled waters out and just pour it on the ground and you look at them and say, that was foolish. And these people took 12 barrels of water and they brought it up and probably their own kids and maybe some of their own family and you know a lot of people in the crowd were looking at them saying, that was foolish. That was dumb. You know that was being said. And they took that water that was personal, they took that water that was precious, they took that water that was practical, that made sense to them, and they poured it out on the ground, and they poured it out until the trench was full, and there, and people were looking at them like, you are crazy. But you know what is so amazing to me is this. is that they took something that was so precious, and so practical, and so personal to them, and they poured it out on the ground, and you know what's amazing is, is God took what was so personal to them, and was so valuable to them, that just in a few hours, what did the Bible say? I hear the sound of, or the noise of rain. Those 12 barrels of water, nobody cared about them anymore. Because the rivers were running full and the streams were running full and the lakes were filling up and there was water everywhere, all because some people took what was precious and they poured it out on the ground and they didn't know why they were doing it, they didn't know what they were doing it for, but they knew this, they just wanted the blessing of God, they wanted the fire to fall, and so what was so precious to them, it is amazing how in just a few hours, wasn't worth anything. And here we are, going through life, and our barrels are full of stuff that we think is so precious and so important and so personal and so practical. But really, when the rain comes, what's it really worth? Really, when we stand before the Lord with a barrel full of stuff, is that gonna please him? I know it's just a simple thought, isn't it? But here's the question, what's your barrel full of? What is so high-fired important to you that you would trade the windows of heaven being open and the blessings of God pouring out upon your life for what you can fit in the stinking barrel. I'm not being mean tonight, but it's just... Hey, I'll tell you this. I would rather have the blessings of God. I believe that, I think that, I want that. but even me. Hey, I think about that verse, the Bible says, the blessings of the Lord maketh rich, he addeth no sorrow with it. I can tell you this, if you live your life with the blessings of the Lord and you stand before God with an empty barrel one day, hey, you'll be saying, I'm thankful I did because God filled it up with what was important. See, the blessings of God is what I have a desire for, and I look at my life sometimes and I say, Luke, why in the world are you keeping stuff in your barrel that don't matter when you got a God in heaven who wants to bless you with manifold blessings, how he wants to take what you've given and give it back to you, press down and shake it and run it over, and God wants to do some amazing works in your life, and you're keeping your barrel full of junk that you can't take with you? And I know I'm the one standing up here preaching the message tonight, but I'm sitting in the pew right with you. I do the same thing. Listen, these preachers that get up here and act like they got it all together, I can tell you they don't, all right? How do you know? I are one, okay? And man, I get so much junk in my barrel sometimes that I'm like, That's a very bad trade. Very bad trade. So what's in your barrel? What's in your barrel that is holding back the rain? Holding back the fire? I don't know what it is. I could stand up here and name stuff till the cows come home and then name some more. And it's funny how I wouldn't hit anything probably that would be important to anybody in this room. Isn't it amazing how the Holy Spirit of God can speak to you about something that wasn't even mentioned? So I don't need to stand up here and name stuff. I'm just asking the simple question, what's in your barrel? Would you be willing to go to that altar that we fixed and pour it out if you knew you'd have the blessings and the hand of God upon your life? Now, in our minds, every one of us would say yes, in our minds, until it really came time to pour it out. So whatever that thing is that is in your mind and in your heart right now, It might be important. I dare say it probably wasn't even as important as this water was to these people, but it might be important. But I can tell you, it's not worth the trade. It's not worth the trade. So I just encourage us, just take what we got and just pour it out. Because otherwise, we're just wasting our time praying for revival. if we're gonna hang on to what we think's important. And I don't mean those words, I don't use those words lightly, I'm being for real. This country hasn't seen revival in a long time. I'm not talking about people getting saved, I'm talking about revival. Where towns were changed, people's lives were changed, souls were saved, I mean, I'm talking about a real revival. We haven't seen the rain and the fire in this country in a long time, and it's because as Americans, we got our barrels full of so much junk that will mean nothing. And I'm not saying those things are bad, but I'm saying if we're not willing to pour them out before the Lord, we're not gonna see revival. It's like this. Remember the day you got saved? Wasn't that a good day? It was a good day for me. You know, the day I got saved, I didn't quit sinning. I didn't all of a sudden become a non-sinner. I sinned that night after I got saved. I'm sure I did. I don't remember what it was, but I'm sure I did. Remember, you had to do this one word called repentance. And whether they used it when they led you to Christ or whether you knew that word, if you got saved, what it was is you were willing to turn. from your sin and you turn to Jesus Christ. That's what that means. Repentance. It's a turning. It didn't mean that you had to live a perfect life. That's not what that meant. What that meant was that you were willing to forsake all the world. You're going to place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ and Him alone and He would save you. That's how you got saved. That's how it took place. If you're saved here today, that's how it took place. To get revival, it works the same way. If we want the fire from heaven to fall, and we want to see the blessings of God on our life, we got to be willing. It doesn't mean we have to throw everything to the wind and all that. Man, whenever Jesus called the disciples, he said, hey, he told them how many coats to take. He told them how many clothes to have. Don't take any more than you need. Just get out there. OK, maybe God's telling somebody to do that today. I don't know. But every one of us ought to be willing. to just dump out whatever it is that God wants. Just give it to him. And you know, that is, think about that verse in Isaiah where God says, I am the Lord God and I will work. And then that next verse it says, who will let it? Who will let God work? So we've got God on a leash in a sense of we're holding him back. God wants to work, but he's asking the question, who will let him? God's saying, you got a barrel full of stuff. Who's willing to pour it out that you might have the blessings, my blessings upon your life? What's in your barrel? What's in your barrel? Heavenly Father, we love you tonight. God, we're so thankful for this scripture, thankful for this story. God, we're thankful of how Those words, and we didn't even get to that part of the message, but those words, Lord, he is the God. He is the God. All that's what we need tonight is just, it was your people making that statement. And God, I pray that maybe your people would just come down to an old-fashioned author and just make that statement, the Lord, he is the God. Lord, I don't know what it is that folks need tonight, but Lord, I pray that you'd work Bless us now. Heads are bowed, eyes are closed. I'm not gonna lie, Christmas really hurts this time. Cause you're not here to celebrate with me. Tears fill my eyes, memories flood my mind as I place your ornament upon the tree. Although this year I have a broken heart, it gives me hope and joy as I remember where you are. You're with the Son of God. You're with the Prince of Peace. You're with the one we're celebrating. And that thought amazes me. Sometimes I still break down, grieving that we're apart. But the sweetest gift is knowing where you are. You're with the Son of God. Got your picture in the frame and a stocking with your name. Oh, God knows it's been hard letting go. And I can't bring you back, but I'll see you again. And all that thought is healing to my soul. I'll miss making angels with you in the snow. I guess instead you will be singing with them all around the throne. You're with the Son of God. You're with the Prince of Peace. You're with the one we're celebrating. And that thought amazes me. Sometimes I still break down. Grieving that we're apart. But the sweetest gift is knowing where you are. You're with the Son of God. And I know how much that Christmas was your favorite time of year. You loved to help us decorate the tree. Now that you're with Jesus, can't imagine how you feel. Because he's the one who bled and died on a tree for you and me. You're with the Son of God. You're with the Prince of Peace. You're with the one we're celebrating, and that thought amazes me. Sometimes I still break down, grieving that we're apart. But the sweetest gift is knowing where you are. Yes, the sweetest gift is knowing where you are. Yes, the sweetest gift is knowing you're in His arms. You're with the Son of God.