Life

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 11:25-26 (NIV)

Jesus's statement is either painfully inappropriate: directed to a grieving woman, or else it is true. He proved the truth of His statement by raising Martha's brother Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus would eventually die again, but Jesus rose Him again for an eternity with Him.

We all face death, unless Jesus returns first. Yet if we trust in Him, death is like falling asleep before He wakes us up for an eternity with Him. If we trust in Him, we're born twice and die once

If we reject Jesus we're born once and die twice. The second death is hell. We need to believe in Him for eternal life.

Martha trusted that in the end, everything would be okay. Jesus showed her that even in this life we can be blessed. Faith in Him isn't just 'pie in the sky when we die'; it's 'steak on a plate while we wait'.

Heavenly Father, we praise You for sending Your Son to restore us to Yourself for eternal life. May we trust in Him, and so never really die. In His name we pray, amen'


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Listen!

  Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, because I have spoken to them and they have not listened, I have called to them and they have not answered. Jeremiah 35:17 ESV In the context, the Rechabites were better at keeping their family traditions than the Jews were at obeying the word of the Lord. God respected the Rechabites nomadic teetotalism. His temper was frayed with His people as a whole however. We don't have to be nomadic. Yet we should remember that this world is not our home, we're just passing through. We shouldn't get too comfortable. We don't have to be teetotal. Yet we must never get drunk on alcohol. We should be sober minded as we consider the eternity to come. Thankfully, salvation is available to us in Christ crucified. Yet we must listen to the way of salvation. If we close our ears to calls to ...
Read more

Listen

  Psalm 143:8 ESV Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. What’s the first thing we do when we wake up? Is it to scroll our phones and check our notifications? Or is it to check in with God through His word, without technological distractions? If we trust in the Lord, we ought to long to hear from Him first thing in the morning. We need daily reminders of His unfailing love. His mercies are new every morning, thankfully. Every day, we need God to direct us. We might be in a groove (or a rut!) of regular practices, yet we should be open to being flexible to whatever life throws at us and what God has for us. He can help us deal with anything that seems to attack us. Morning by morning, we should lift our souls to the Lord. We are to wait in expectancy up Him. He will never fail us. ‘Dear Lord, we come to You this morning expectant of Your goodness to us afresh this day. Please ...
Read more

Listen!

  James 1:19 NLT Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.   In Christ, we’re all one big spiritual family. We’re all siblings, adopted by our Father God through faith in Jesus. We need to understand how we ought to function as God’s family.   Firstly, we must be quick to listen. A famous quote says that we’ve got twice as many ears as mouths, so we should listen twice as much as we speak! Most of us find it hard to listen, and if we do, we listen to respond, rather than listen to understand and appreciate where the other person’s coming from.   Secondly, we should be slow to speak. Lots of us are opinionated and like to be heard. Yet James is urging us to think twice before opening our mouths: is it necessary?   Finally, we’re to be slow to get angry. Lots of things can irritate and annoy us. We should pause before venting, maybe we just need to be philosophical about ...
Read more