Resurrection Renewal

Signs of spring are all around us – green grass, the sound of lawnmowers, birds singing, buds blossoming, and warmer days.  We celebrated the resurrection of God’s Son, our Savior, on Easter.  God offers us new life, hope, victory over sin and death, and joy through Christ’s resurrection.  Now, like the first disciples, we seek to understand what that means to us in our daily lives.  

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3

Does the resurrection mean that our problems dissolve?  Our health improves?  Our debts decrease while our income increases?  Or that home improvement project gets done without our effort?  Not necessarily.  But Christ’s new life can give us strength to face those issues, or hope and strength to stand up in the face of our problems, if we keep seeking the Master of Life.  In over 15 years of living with chronic back pain, I’ve found that God’s new life and power give me the hope and perseverance to keep moving forward.  God’s new life and hope can give you and me the strength to face issues we’ve been avoiding or fearing for years.   

"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."  Romans 6:8-11

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that [at] the last he will stand upon the earth.  And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God, whom I will see for myself, and whom my own eyes will behold, and not another.   (Job 19:25-27)

If God could take a valley of dry, dead, human bones, and make them into living, breathing humans again (Ezekiel 37), God can certainly renew your life and mine.  The key is looking to the Creator of Life to re-create our lives and hold us up in the face of difficulties.  Let us trust the One who has power over life, death, and sin.  Let us bow our heads and hearts to the Master of Life everyday in praise and prayer.  

Thoughts on the Savior's Death

Today is the day called Good Friday, the day when Jesus died.  Jesus will be dead within hours.  It seems heartbreaking, at least for those of us who loved Him.  We can blame the Jews of Jesus' day or the Roman soldiers, but actually, it was our sins.

For those who loved Jesus, there was nothing good about the day Jesus died a slow, agonizing death like a convicted criminal.  They felt confused, lost, severe loss & grief, afraid, but nothing positive or even close to "good."  For them, & I hope for some of us who seek to follow Him, that day was and is Black Friday or Death Friday.

In the words of the Lord's Supper, also called communion, we believe Jesus was the Bread of Life, broken for you and me.  The blood of Jesus was shed for us.  We believe the cup of communion represents the water of life welling up into eternal life.

Jesus is dead.  The only "good" thing is the new life that we can receive because of His death.  But if we skip the agony, grief, and darkness of these days when Jesus' body was dead, I don't believe that we fully appreciate that new life on Easter.  In a similar way, denying the grief of losing a loved one is not healthy.

Isaiah 53: 3-7 says: He was looked down on and passed over,

    a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.

One look at him and people turned away.

    We looked down on him, thought he was scum.

But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—

    our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.

We thought he brought it on himself,

    that God was punishing him for his own failures.

But it was our sins that did that to him,

    that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!

He took the punishment, and that made us whole.

    Through his bruises we get healed.

We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.

    We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.

And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,

                on him, on him.

He was beaten, he was tortured,

    but he didn’t say a word.

Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered

    and like a sheep being sheared,

    he took it all in silence.  (The Message)

May Jesus' suffering motivate us to look at our own sins, our sins that caused His death.  I feel deep regret for my own sins, and my Savior's death makes me long to turn from my sins.  Our Savior's death can lead us to change our ways, to live as the Master desires us to live.

When we truly feel some of His pain & suffering, the sunrise on Easter morning will mean new hope and new strength, and a new stage in our walk with the Master.  I look forward to the Spirit's work in my life and yours.   Peace & grace to you.

Giving the Gift of Life

Sarah Farkas was a seminary student assigned to care for members of a nearby church.  While there, she met a man, Duke Guy, who was on dialysis and needed a kidney transplant.  But no matching kidney had been found.  Sarah was praying one night that a donor would be found, where when she heard God say to her, Why don’t you give him one of your kidneys?   She immediately began to tremble and weep but felt a sense of peace. 

Sarah spoke to several people who encouraged her to do it.  After 3 months of wrestling with God and agonizing, she went through a number of medical tests that determined she was a  perfect match for Duke.  On January 13, she and Duke were wheeled into side-by-side operating rooms, and Duke received one of her kidneys, which is now functioning in his body.  He is no longer living with the kidney disease that plagued his life for over 30 years.

Sarah says, In hindsight, it seems fitting that God asked a question.  After all, God gives us opportunities to answer and step out in obedience several times a day, but often we aren’t listening or even paying attention.  God does not ask everyone to donate a kidney, but He does ask that w e slow down, close our laptops, turn off our televisions, and silence our cell phones so that we can give our uninterrupted attention to Him and to the people He has chosen to place in our lives.

We are called to be the light of the world, and our light shines a little brighter when we take the time to listen, because when we listen, heaven and earth collide.  

We all have a terminal disease called sin.  Unless we receive a transplant from the Savior, our lives will wither and end.  Jesus offers us each a fresh start, a new life, a heart transplant that leads to eternal life. 

Become Part of Spring's Renewal

Spring began officially on March 20.  Birds are singing in our yard every morning.  A few flowers are blossoming, and trees are budding.  The grass is turning green.  After surviving a cold winter that began with a huge ice-storm, folks in our area are getting outside more on the warm, spring days when the sun is oozing light and warmth.   Spring is happening!  

Every spring, my spirit feels rejuvenated and renewed.  It was in spring that I first submitted to Jesus as my Savior and Master as a teenager.  Later, our pastor told me that people in general are more open to the Holy Spirit’s work in the spring, and that still makes sense to me, over 30 years later.  If God could take a valley of dry, dead bones (Ezekiel 37) and make them into living, breathing people again, God can renew our hearts and souls in the springtime.

During the cold winter months, we stay inside more - kind of like hibernating to some extent, and avoid going out in the frosty weather.  My heart and soul sometimes seem more closed to outside influence from God during the colder months, perhaps because my chronic pain level increases during the cold winter months.  And believe me, I seek the Ultimate Healer through Scripture and prayer when my body aches continually.  

But spring is happening now!  My soul seems like budding and blossoming to God’s nurturing Spirit.  I hope that spring will bring new buds and blossoms from your heart and soul, too.  God is actively renewing his earth and his people, if we are open and sensitive to God’s promptings in our midst.  May God renew you this spring!  “Those who trust in the Lord will receive new strength. They will fly as high as eagles.  They will run and not get tired.  They will walk and not grow weak.”  (Isaiah 40:31, NIRV)  Pray for God to give you new life, hope, friendship, and peace.  Become part of the spring renewal.

Spring Brings New Life

April brings Spring and the beginning of a new growing season.  Tempatures are higher, and the breeze is warmer.  Gardeners prepare the soil for planting.  Lawn-mowers are tuned up, and people are outside working in the yard.  Children are playing outside.  Buds open, and leaves sprout.  Flowers are coming up.  It seems like the signs of new life are everywhere you look.

For Christ-followers, April follows the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Christ’s resurrection represents forgiveness of sins and power over sin and death.  God’s grace gives us hope and love.  Our lives can be made new by what God has done through Christ.  Spring brings new life to Christ-followers.

For those like me, Spring also means that my back pain is reduced.  My body does not ache as much.  It seems like the warmer weather breathes fresh air into my body.  So Spring brings new life physically, for which I am grateful.

I hope and pray that God will renew your life this Spring.  May Christ’s resurrection give you new life and hope.  If you’re not living with Jesus, why not begin today?  Read His Word in the Bible.  Share your joys, concerns, and gratitude to Him in prayer.  God is ready to give you a new life; are you ready to receive His wonderful life, hope, and peace?  If you’re tired, rest in Jesus (Matthew 11: 28-30).  If your life seems old and worn, let the Master change you and renew you. 

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”  Ezekiel 36:26

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:  The old has gone, the new is here!”  2 Corinthians 5:17

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”  Ephesians 4:22-24