Resurrection Hope

Springtime is so exciting! We purchase seeds in a package which have a picture of what they will look like when they grow. God has imprinted a unique identity in each seed and helps them grow into the plant he designed them to be.

In faith, we take these seeds, bury them in the ground and water them, believing that from these tiny seeds, plants bearing flowers, or vegetables or fruit will come out of the ground.

This points to the hope of the resurrection – when God once again creates something new perfectly suited for inheriting the kingdom of God. As the first of the harvest of those who belong to God, Jesus died for our sins, was buried and then was raised on the third day. 

Jesus, clothed in the dazzling radiance of God’s splendor, crowned with glorious honor, the exact expression of God’s true nature invites you and me to place our faith in him! For it was by God’s grace that Jesus experienced death’s bitterness on behalf of everyone. Whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life. 

This perishable body that we have today will be raised as a glorious body. We are weak sinful people, who are offered forgiveness, holiness and righteousness, through the death and resurrection of Christ so that we can be with him in heaven. In heaven we will not sin or encounter sin. In heaven we won’t be weak or crippled emotionally or physically. In Heaven God will bless us with a new body that he creates for us, a perfect body, a righteous body. 

If we continue faithful to the gospel, we can have confidence that God will raise our human, natural bodies as spiritual bodies. We will still be known; we will still have our personalities and unique identities. Better than that … we shall bear the image of God. Then we shall live once again the way God intended for us to live. We will work, rest, eat, create and love undisturbed by the frustrations we experience today. 

We will inherit the Kingdom of God – God will do a powerful miracle! We will be changed from flesh and blood into imperishable, from mortal to immortality so that we can inherit the Kingdom of God. Death will be defeated. 

Death still stings – grief is real – but we don’t grieve like those who have no hope. We have hope because we know that nothing entrusted to the God of creation and resurrection can be lost forever, even in death. Death has been swallowed up with victory – because Jesus has conquered death. 

So, stand firm, don’t forget the resurrection, don’t give it up. Don’t let the everyday things of life, the everyday mistakes or the sinfulness that you encounter or the sins that you do move you. Don’t let them stop you from being who you are in Christ. In faith embrace the fullness of God’s promise. Give yourself to the work of God. When you fall pick yourself up, dust yourself off, go to God like a little child and ask his forgiveness and then carry on. You are more than your mistakes and sins because Jesus died for you. 

So then, we must cling in faith to all we know to be true. For we have a magnificent King-Priest, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who rose into the heavenly realm for us, and now sympathizes with us in our frailty. He understands humanity, for as a Man, our magnificent King-Priest was tempted in every way just as we are, and conquered sin. So now we come freely and boldly to where love is enthroned, to receive mercy’s kiss and discover the grace we urgently need to strengthen us in our time of weakness. (Heb 4:14-16 Passion Translation) 

Death isn’t the end, just the beginning. Therefore, stand firm – let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of God because you know your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Walk in the life and hope God has given you. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. Live a life worthy of Jesus who gave you eternal life. And when you mess up, ask his forgiveness, embrace the hope he offers you, and press on.

Grace and Resurrection

Don’t lose heart! Don’t lose hope! Remember what Jesus has done for you!

You have not believed in God in vain! God’s word is true! Christ died for your sins, just as the Scriptures said! Jesus was buried in a tomb and rose from the dead after three days, again exactly as the Scripture says! (1 Cor 15:3-4).

Your faith in God covers your past, your present and your future! Your faith in God centers your existence in the eternal, all knowing, all powerful God of the universe! Your faith in God gives you a new perspective from which to view all things! 

Jesus voluntarily put himself under the authority of God the Father. Jesus voluntarily said that each person, you and I are so worth it. Jesus came to the earth to die for us because he knew that was the only way we could come close to God. He didn’t have to, but he did this because he loves us. 

In case you think your sins are too big to be forgiven by God consider the apostle Paul. Paul had viciously persecuted the church and killed a guy thinking he was doing God a favor. Then the resurrected Jesus appeared to Paul and showered him with grace.  In case you think you’ve messed up to badly, consider Moses who also was a murderer, and yet God used him to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. If God could forgive David for seducing Bathsheba and killing her husband, God in his grace can forgive whatever you have done! These are the heroes of the faith! (Hebrews 11) 

You believe in Jesus, so don’t let people get in your way. Don’t let what people are saying get in the way of what Jesus has done for you. It is by God’s grace that you are here! It is by God’s grace that you have a firm foundation to stand on! Your faith is sustained by looking to Jesus Christ crucified and risen! There is no trouble and no toil that needs to be feared because Jesus has obtained the ultimate victory. 

Jesus takes upon himself our sufferings because of his fellowship with us! Allow God to purify your mind so that you are conscious of nothing besides God. Allow God to be the mode and measure of your every movement! Let God be the consummation of all your desires, your love, your praise, your vision! Ask God to open your eyes to see by faith the wonder and power of God. 

Walk in the life and hope God has given you. Live a life worthy of Jesus who gave you life. And when you mess up ask his forgiveness, embrace the hope he offers you and try again! Because Christ is risen, you can know with confidence that you, your life, and your body are valuable and precious to Christ! 

Your journey of faith is unique. Your experience of God’s grace is unique. Your story of struggles, pains, joy, accomplishments and dreams are stories of the gospel that lights the way for others! 

Stand firm! Let nothing move you! Give yourself fully to the work of God even though you are a sinful human being, because you know that you are forgiven and because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 

Because Jesus is risen, because of God’s amazing grace you can say with confidence “What I am now, I am by the grace of God, and God’s grace toward me was not in vain”! (1 Cor 15:10)

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:3-4)

Joy and Grace

We all need grace. Grace that calls us by our name when we have lost all hope. God’s grace gives us new birth into a living hope. God’s grace cares for us, provides for us and restores us when we have denied Christ. God in his grace offers forgiveness for all our sins and redemption for our souls.

What Christ, in grace, has done for you alters every dimension of how you live. You now live in hope because Christ’s death and resurrection has given you hope. This hope you have is a precious gift of God. Your living hope rests securely on God’s grace.

After denying Jesus three times, Peter found himself in the pit of despair. Grace did not allow Peter’s story to end there. In that bottomless pit of despair, Peter heard a voice call his name … “Peter, I am risen” … It was the voice of his resurrected friend, Jesus. In that moment he knew he had been given new birth into a living hope. As Peter set his hope on God’s mercy, he personally experienced God’s grace. With the call to “feed his sheep”, Jesus graciously restored and commissioned the one who had denied him. Although he suffered many trials through his life, Peter’s face radiated with inexpressible and glorious joy. 

God’s grace calls you by name, piercing your conscience, addressing all your relationships, realigning your priorities, redistributing your values and expanding your imagination . The same grace that called out to Peter – “do you love me more than these” is calling out to you right now to come home. The grace that restored Peter with the words “go and feed my sheep” is the same grace that calls to you to go and use the talents and skills God has blessed you with in reverent fear today, right here, right now, right where you live and work. 

Just as he who calls you is holy, so be holy in all you do. Be holy in how you live. Be holy in how you do your work. Be holy in your relationships. For it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Pet 1:16). When you stumble and fall, as we all do, know that God’s grace is there every moment to redeem all your sinful actions. God’s grace will carry you safely to the last day, to an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. 

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8-9)

Prayer Heavenly Father, thank you that you call us by name. May your word’s of grace re-awaken hope and enlarge our imagination for our lives, for love and for holiness. Amen.

Success

In Proverbs we read that “The whole city celebrates when the godly succeed; … Upright citizens are good for a city and make it prosper”- Prov 11:10-11 NLT.

How are upright citizens good for a city or organization? By being faithful stewards of God’s blessings on their life.

What does success look like for a Christian? One way a Christian is successful is when they have used their skills and talents wisely to accomplish the vision God has given them, while keeping their eyes always fixed on Christ.

When you keep your eyes fixed on Christ, you see the Son of God who humbled himself; who came not to be served, but to serve. You are a faithful steward of God’s blessings when you are motivated by God’s love to serve those around you. You don’t need to take shortcuts, play politics or practice manipulations to ‘get results’. Rely on the power of the Holy Spirit so that you can say “I have served to the glory of God” no matter what the outcome is.

God’s vision for your life is how you, with your unique skills, abilities and personality can contribute to flourishing of lives in one small corner of God’s creation. God’s vision for your life is not defined by your past or by what the world around you says. God’s vision for your life is bigger than you. God’s vision for your life is all about seeing God’s creation flourish.

For some of you God’s vision for your life may be something life changing like being an encourager through words, deeds and actions. For others of you God’s vision for your life may be the high and holy calling of raising your family or caring for an aging parent. For some of you God’s vision for your life may be to lead a large or small successful business venture so that lives can flourish. For others God’s vision for your life may be to create beauty through words, art, architecture, numbers, music or in countless other ways.

Many times, the vision God has for a person’s life, is to be an integral part of a bigger initiative.

As Francis Shaeffer once said, there are no little people, and no little places in God’s Kingdom. Engineers, accountants, waiters and baristas be inspired by God’s vision for your life. Your role in your organization is important so that your co-workers, suppliers and customers can flourish.

You might be wondering – what if I work in a company where the leadership appears to be motivated by money or self-interests; or what if I work in a toxic environment?

You are not accountable before God for the motives or behaviors of the leadership of your company. You are only accountable before God to be following God’s vision for your life. You are only accountable before God for bearing the fruit of the Spirit where you are working. It’s not easy, but you can through the power of the Holy Spirit be a well-watered garden bearing the fruit of the Spirit even in dark and toxic places.

God is a God of abundance, not of scarcity. God has promised to supply all you need to be who He created you to be, and to do what he created you to do. Out of His infinite storehouses of riches, God will abundantly and lovingly supply you with all the wisdom, strength, grace, mercy and love you need to be an ever-flowing spring of blessing to God’s creation.

The Lord will guide you continually, 
giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like an ever-flowing spring.
Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls.
(Isa 58:11-12)

No Condemnation

Your perfect heavenly Father loves you more than you could imagine! 

Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. (Rom 8:1-2 MSG) 

It is God’s heartfelt desire that you would be fully alive, for his glory. 

God offers to give you light from above and shower you with heavenly grace for each moment in the concrete realities of your daily life, As God pours his grace out in your heart persevere in remembering his teaching and keeping his commands. Then your life will be filled with inner contentment, delight, and joy.  

This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him! (Rom 8:15-17 MSG) 

God in his love and faithfulness will never leave you – so in childlike unwavering confidence allow God’s wisdom, love and faithfulness to shape your life with righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is pleasing to God and will bring you favor with your friends, family and co-workers. 

You do not walk alone. The good Shepherd walks beside you. God’s presence brings grace and joy even in the toughest of circumstances. There is nothing more refreshing than fellowship with God and enjoying his most holy delights. 

God’s wisdom is better than the purest gold. God’s wisdom will help you discover knowledge and discernment. God’s wisdom leads you to walk in righteousness and paths of justice. 

The Lord out of his great love for you will lovingly restore you to the right paths when you go astray. The Lord will graciously forgive you when you choose to be wise in your own eyes and fail to trust that God’s ways are best. 

Rest in God’s immeasurable grace. God will keep you safe. God will keep your foot from being snared so that you can run the race with confidence that He has set out before you. 

Prayer 

O God, I beg two favors from you; 

    let me have them before I die. 

First, help me never to tell a lie. 

    Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! 

    Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. 

For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” 

    And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name. (Prov 30:7-9 NLT)