Saturday, July 21, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Resurrection Power Will Change Us Forever!
Paul makes the Truth very plain -- : “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20 NKJV). Consider how much hangs on those two little words—"But now.” The resurrection of Jesus, our coming resurrection, and the resurrection of all those who those died in faith, all of it depends on those two little words.
But now!
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!
The term “firstfruits” refers to the first part of any harvest. For the Israelites, it meant the first part of the barley harvest that was offered to the Lord. It was a happy day when you offered the firstfruits because it meant that there was a bigger harvest to come. Even so, the resurrection of Jesus over 2000 years ago is God’s way of saying, “One day all my children will rise from the dead.” Not one of them will be left in the grave. Every single one will be raised
Immortal,Incorruptible,Perfected,Completed,Glorified,Free from sickness,Delivered from death,With sin gone forever,Human frailty disappeared,Personality retained,Eternally endowed,Supernaturally restored,Made like Jesus,All the defects finally gone, All that is under construction finally completed,With healthy bodies,With clear minds, With undivided hearts,In company with all the saints of all the ages,In a multitude that no man can number,We will gather round the throne, We will rejoice and laugh and sing,We will know each other more deeply,We will love more completely,We will think more clearly, We will still be who we are,We will be more than we have ever been,We will become what we always wanted, We will finally see our loved ones who died in the Lord,We will meet those who went before us,We will see the saints of old,We will get to know Abraham, Esther, Luther and Spurgeon,We will see our grandparents and our grandchildren, We will marvel at the grace of God forever,We will see Jesus and bow down before him.
And we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
This is our hope, our faith, our confidence, this is the faith of our ancestors who believed then what we believe now. This is what the earliest Christians believed, and this is what Christians around the world believe. It is no small thing to say that a person now dead will someday rise and live again.
But that is what the Resurrection says to us. The Jesus Story is Our Story! Amen! Amen!
Philippians 1:6 -- Be Patient as God Works in Your Life!
Philippians 1:1-11 God at Work -- Your Life is a Construction Zone, and So is the Life of Your Church
from New International Version (NIV)
Philippians 1:1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons[a]: 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.od is not finished with you yet. But He will not forsake you. He will complete the work He has begun in you. You can bank on it!
Have you ever watched over the course of months as a new building went up? Someone had to lay out the plans, consider the cost, gather all needed workmen and materials, and then work with others to build the new structure.
God is at work in the lives of His children. Can you look at your life, and the lives of those around you, and say “God is at work”? Let’s consider together the truth that God is at work in lives as we meditate on the opening verses of Philippians
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