God Keeps His Promises Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. Mark 16:6-7 Sorrow skews our sense of security in God causing us to doubt God. Even though Jesus promised His disciples He would come back to life after three days, they forgot. In the heat of the emotional fall out from Christ’s gruesome death on the cross, His followers were filled with fear and sadness. He told them the truth of His resurrection, but the disciples’ heart belief had not caught up with their mental assent. Convincingly, their immediate unbelief gave creditability to their final faith. Like the disciples, I struggle with spiritual amnesia. I forget my Heavenly Father has promised to heal my broken heart. I stew in sadness instead of receiving God’s gladness. I let my emotions get the better of me when I feel alone and afraid, forgetful of His precious words that He will never leave me or forsake me. I grow weary wondering if my physical needs will be met and my financial obligations covered. Yet I can rest, for my Savior does what He says He will do. He brings back to life what was dead for His good purposes. Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. John 2:19-21 Has sorrow over a loss led you to lose faith? Has worry captured your emotions to wallow around in ‘what ifs’? You can take Christ at His word for He is 100% trustworthy in what He says and what He does. Life may not make sense in the moment, but give God time and cloudy circumstances will give way to blue skies of hope. His promise of grace and mercy is 24/7 in heaven. Your Heavenly Father longs to love you through trials, so your trust grows even sweeter. Furthermore, as you experience the resurrected Christ in your life not everyone will believe you. Some will scoff at you, some will ignore you and a few will rejoice with you. Regardless of someone’s disbelief that Jesus rose from the grave, by God’s grace you can still rise above your circumstances as a testament to His wonder working power in your life. Jesus rose from the grave, so all who believe can rise from their grave of sin, sorrow and death. Yes, God says so! We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4 Prayer: Heavenly Father I rest in Your promises and trust You to carry out Your purposes. Related Readings: Acts 13:32-34; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8; 2 Corinthians 1:20; James 2:5
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 06:31:03 +0000