1Peter 1:3  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy; He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

“To my future husband: I want you to know that I am thinking about you. I am working everyday to become the best wife I can be. I am focusing on God and what He defines as a faithful Christian mother and wife, so I can best embody those characteristics. I pray that you know that it is with my full faith and trust in God that I know this relationship has been hand-crafted by Him.

I pray that we continue to glorify the Lord, prioritizing Him in every aspect of our lives and raise our future family to be God-fearing Christians. I pray God is at the center of our relationship, as it is a gift from Him. I thank Him for you, before I even know you, and can’t wait to love you in the best way I know how for the rest of our lives. I pray you know and feel the importance of my love and hopes for our relationship, no matter what challenges we face. I pray that our trust in God and love for one another overrules the obstacles. May our relationship last forever. Your future wife, Laken.”

Laken Riley’s stepfather read this from her journal in the courtroom before the Nov. 20 sentencing of 26-year-old Venezuelan José Antonio Ibarra, who murdered 22-year-old Laken on February 22 while she was jogging at the University of Georgia. Ibarra entered the US illegally through Biden’s open border policy.

Allie Beth Stuckey expounded that “Although Lakin’s letter never manifested itself in marriage, this beautiful letter is her testimony to her steadfast faith in Jesus Christ.” Through her letter, she has not only inspired millions of women to write their own letters to their future husbands but more importantly she has glorified God, echoing the words of the apostle Peter in this week’s verse. Both are testimonies to their lives.

The world was privileged to see into her private world to know Laken’s hope centered on God’s mercy on all like Laken who are born again – a new birth – through faith in the resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.       

In his first epistle, Peter begins by praising God’s GRACE (being given something positive that no one deserves) as his response to God’s great MERCY (withholding something negative that everyone does deserve). Instead of his deserved punishment, God gave him what he could never earn. He caused him to be born again into a living hope, through his faith in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

The testimony of both Peter and Laken is this: it is one thing to hope we will be saved, to yearn for life after death. Jesus proved that this hope is not a fantasy. He died, then showed Himself alive to many witnesses.

The faith of Peter, Laken, and all followers of Jesus Christ is not a wish for a better world. The reason for our hope in an eternity with God is that our Lord is alive. Because He lives, those who believe in Him also are resurrected. The death of Laken is her transition from this temporary, sinful world, where illegal immigrants murder innocent people, into a beautiful eternity in the presence and fellowship with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Both Peter and Laken, in their words, bless God for His great mercy!

Now, as we continue to debate the 2024 election, the lesson for us to learn is we must know the policies of those for whom we vote. It is Biden and Harris’s open-border policy that is solely responsible for the murder of Laken Riley and the countless number of Americans who have been harmed by illegal immigrants.

In September 2024, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revealed that the agency’s docket included more than 662,000 illegal immigrants who either had a criminal conviction or were awaiting a verdict in a criminal case, including more than 13,000 convicted murderers, more than 15,000 convicted of sexual assault, more than 2,500 convicted of kidnapping, and more than 62,000 convicted of assault.

The people we elected were tasked to protect Americans and failed. They chose to put Americans like Laken Riley in harm’s way by allowing illegal immigrants not only to cross into America but then paying to send them throughout America, into our cities, countryside, and as with Laken our university campuses.

Donald Trump, our elected 47^th President, has already begun the work to accomplish the top policy mandate the American people gave him – to both close the border on January 20, 2025 and start the illegal immigrant deportation process by focusing on the criminals identified by ICE.

While we mourn for Laken, she is with our Lord. There are many more Lakens who must be protected.

“The Evidence of Faith’s Substance” _ Article #634