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.  

Where Does Your Hope Come From?

On April 28-30, the NFL held its annual draft of college football players, and each team chose about 7 players each - fresh, young players.  Almost immediately afterwards, each team sign about 20 more undrafted players.  So every NFL team has restocked its roster with dozens of new, young players.  Thus every team believes they’re going to be better than last year.  Yes, this is the season when hope is renewed for every NFL team. 

Hope is an abstract thing that affects almost every aspect of one’s life.  It affects how one thinks or feels, how one sees oneself.  It affects how one relates to others.  You can just sense, when listening to another person, whether that person is hopeful or not.  One’s level of hope affects how much one accomplishes. 

In Isaiah’s time, the chosen people of Israel were feeling like they were no longer chosen, as if God had lost track of them; a few even dared to say that God no longer cared about them.  As Isaiah 40:27 says, “Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel,
My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”?

God Himself says it best in the 4 verses that follow, Do you not know?  Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
   He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
   Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
   but those who hope in the Lord, will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;

 they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Did you catch that line in bold?  Did you notice where Isaiah’s hope came from?  Isaiah’s hope didn’t come from believing in himself, or following a self-help book, or from his wonderful friends.  No, his hope, the hope that renewed his strength, came from the LORD – the everlasting Creator of the world, the God who doesn’t get tired or weary, and his wisdom cannot be understood by any mere mortal.  Are you actively trusting in that God?

A few verses later, Isaiah wrote, So do not fear, for I am with you;
    do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (41:10)

If you aren’t listening to the God of Isaiah, why not start seeking Him today?  If you’re troubled or afraid, turn to the eternal Creator of the world.  If you’re weak or weary or discouraged, why not put your hope in the Lord who promises to renew your strength?  He will uphold you with his holy, right hand, and help you.