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I hope that today was a glorious reminder of what Jesus has done for you today. I pray that you are reminded of God’s salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
If things still look dead in your life, if you are barely hanging on, recall that God was able to bring life from death. He did it through His Son, Jesus. And He does it daily with each one of us who is trusting in Christ.
Our hope is resurrected because Jesus lives! And I don’t just mean in some grand scheme kind of way. I mean it personally, too. Because our Lord lives, we have access to the same power that raised the Savior back to life. And that means we live, too!
Did you know that you have eternal life right now if you profess Jesus as your Lord and Savior? It doesn’t happen when you get to heaven. You have full access to life and life abundantly right now.
I am grateful that though we sometimes walk through valleys, we go through hard places, we slip into pits, God comes to life us up and out. He is the Lifter of our Head. He is our confidence and strength. He is our Deliverer.
Have you ever been so perplexed, depressed, frustrated that you can’t even stand to see your negative thoughts put down on paper?
So many thoughts have been swirling in my brain this month as I adjust to a new place and to often perplexing and sometimes unpleasant circumstances. And though writing has typically helped me in the past to plunk those difficult musings on paper as something tangible and therapeutic, lately scribbling anything about my pain and sorrow—even in a journal no one will read—has been something I have been avoiding at all costs.
Why is that? Why do I want to escape from my thoughts? Why do I run away from the pain? Why is it so hard sometimes to face the dross I see God pulling out of me?
Before I came to this season of wilderness, I was excited about change, excited about new, excited about great things God was going to do in and through me. But that was before the realization that change meant I would have to change—not my circumstances, not frustrating people around me, like the slow driver ahead or the thoughtless person in line at the grocery store. No, it meant I would have to change. Read the rest of this entry »
Why is it we can get all teary-eyed when we see two wonderful people pledge to love each other through good times and bad at a traditional wedding ceremony – with these famous last words, “For richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health” – yet somehow we often don’t translate those same vows to the relationship we are meant to have with our Bridegroom Jesus in our walk of faith?
When things go wrong, instead of sticking it out or standing up for our Beloved, we tend to blame, pull away, and throw in the towel. We think, Yes, Lord, I will follow You no matter what. But when sickness comes and stays for a prolonged season, we can often distance ourselves from the One who can truly help us. Read the rest of this entry »
Even as you read this, I am probably heading over the top of your neighborhood, high in the clouds above on a big jet plane. Planes always make me think of eagles: strong and able to fly above the storms of life.
Maybe you are experiencing some turbulence right where you are. If it’s getting you down, remember that you need to turn those problems and worries over to the Lord. Problems sap your strength; trusting in the Lord renews it.
“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” (Isaiah 40:31, NIV).
Have a safe landing wherever you are. Rest and peace are yours today in Christ Jesus.
– Laura J. Bagby
You know how with a typical word processing program you have the option to “find” the term you are searching for and then “replace” it with a better term? Well, as I was thinking about this very useful computer editing tool, I began considering its parallel to our spiritual lives.
There are key conditions that God wants us to find in our own hearts (He calls those sins) so that we can replace those foul feelings and behaviors with ones that are holy and pleasing to God. Read the rest of this entry »
I was reading over the comments from yesterday’s Twelfth Hour Answers and something dawned on me. I kept thinking about the word emergency. And suddenly, I saw something. If you creatively break the word down into its parts, you get “emerge and see.”
And that is exactly what happens in the story of Lazarus later in the book of John chapter 11.
We learned yesterday how Jesus weeps with us when we mourn a loss, even when His greater purpose is to bring a miracle of life into our dead circumstances. We see Him do this with Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. And we experience the same thing in our own lives when He suddenly shows up right when we think it’s too late for a dramatic change.
Now, we get to the rest of the story – the part where the emergency turns into the “emerge and see.” Read the rest of this entry »
Ever feel bewildered like Mary and Martha felt when they learned that Jesus didn’t come to heal their brother Lazarus as He had promised? (See John 11:1-32.) Ever felt like in that moment of utter disbelieve, your world just came crashing down? I have. In fact, I felt that way today.
Sitting at my kitchen table with a mountain of problems pushing at my peace of mind, I found myself teary-eyed and very much in the state of Martha. She couldn’t understand why Jesus didn’t show up at her brother’s time of need. At the moment of crisis, Jesus was a no-show. When Jesus did finally make it to the house – four days after Lazarus had died and that was purposeful – Martha was beside herself. I can imagine her being grief-stricken yet too weary to demand anything of the Lord. Simply in need of an explanation, she offered, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (vs. 21, NIV). Read the rest of this entry »
