The Tomb is Sealed

Matt. 61:66 So they went, and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.

All day Saturday after Jesus was taken off the cross, He laid in the tomb. He was pronounce dead on the cross when the spear pierces His side. Now behind the sealed sepulcher laid the Son of God, His heart no longer beating, but His Spirit descended the depth of hell to retrieved the keys of life and death. In the hearts of those that followed Him, all hope was gone. He who they thought would be their Savior, and deliver them from the bondage of Rome wept with sorrow. They heard Him say that in 3 days He would rise from the dead, but they believed not. We are not much different. When things go wrong and hope fades away we despair for the day and tomorrow will just bring more sorrow. The tomb has been sealed and God is gone. Where is He when life is hard and there seems to be no where to turn. He might as well be sealed away in the sepulcher. It’s Saturday, and Sunday seems so far away. 

Good Friday

Heb. 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

We are not made holy through any thing that we do. He commands us to abstain from all appearance of evil, yet it is not living a sinless life that make us holy. God says, “Be ye holy as I am Holy”. “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”. This standard of living is impossible for man to reach. We can only be made perfect through the cross. Jesus who offered up Himself as the supreme sacrifice for sin, took our sin, it was nailed to the cross and we bear it no longer. Through the blood of Christ we can now be made whole and sanctified. We are made clean and can now come boldly to the throne of God and make our request known to Him. Once and for all, the blood was shed, no need for any other sacrifice. Today is Good Friday, good because the price has been paid and we no longer have to sacrifice animals for sin offerings. Good because we now can be made holy and pure, not of any works we can do, but through faith in the cross that Jesus died for us to set us free from the bondage of sin and has written the law of God in our hearts. His commandments are still required, but they are not what makes us holy.

Behold the Cross

Luke 23:48 And all the people that came together to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.

Behold and see what God has done! Gave His son to die on the cross to save the likes of you and me. Gaze upon the cross, and behold the things that sin will cause people to do. The heart of man is wicked and destructive. Anything that reveals the sinful nature of man causes man to revile in hatred against that which condemns their heart. Behold Him there hanging on the cross between two sinners, the Holy one of God who healed the blind, fed the thousands, made men to walk, and loved sinners regardless of their social statues. Behold how He breathes words of forgiveness to those who put Him on the cross. “Forgive them, Lord for they know not what they do”. Behold Jesus, as He looks toward heaven and exclaims, “It is finished”. The ultimate price was paid, Jesus, the God-man who came to earth and lived among us to show us how to live. Gave His life, paid the penalty for our sins that we may behold eternity and see Him someday face to face.

Casting Seed

Mark 4:26, 27 And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground;..the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how.

Casting seed is to spread the seed of the gospel. We often have no idea how God will use our efforts to affect or influence someone to God. We share the Gospel seed and trust God that He will use it to bring glory to Him. Sometimes it is years later that we may see what God has done with that seed, or we may never see the seed grow in our lifetime. But the kingdom of God is made up people who have been influenced by the word on God spoken, written, seen, or lived. God wants us to be seed droppers. Be ready to share what God can do and how His grace is able to make a difference in the life of anyone who will turn to Him. Be ready in season and out of season to cast the seed whenever you can.

Walking On Water

Matt 14:29  And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

Walking on water is not possible. The laws of nature defy the possibility that humans can literally walk on the surface of the water. The laws of nature do not apply to God. He created the laws that govern our universe, He can alter those laws at will. With men, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. When God asks us to do the impossible it would be natural for fear to grip our hearts. We who fear the unknown and things that seem impossible to do know a God that does things that are impossible. Have any mountains that are in the way? Have any rivers that are over flowing the banks you need to cross? Have any seas that need parted? I don’t know if I will ever need to walk on water, but I need Him to work out some impossibilities that I cannot do in my own strength or ability. Taking the first step in believing Him, and keeping my trust in the one who can make miracles happen is what God requires of me. With God, all things are possible.

In His Time

Ecc. 3:1, 11  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: He hath made every thing beautiful in his time…

Solomon essentially is saying that life happens and there will be good things and bad things that will happen in life. Understanding that it all happens for a purpose. We may never see the reason for the times that we walk in the shadow of darkness and everything around us seems to be going wrong. The rain falls on the just and unjust, and we may wonder why it seems to always rain where we are. Will the sun ever come out behind the cloud and shine again? To every thing in life there is a season and purpose. God, who holds the world in His hand has allowed for seasons of blessings, but also times of testing. We wake each morning not knowing what the day may bring. We eat, we work, and we hope to share time with those we love. But in this life there will be sorrow, and sorrow knows no stranger. We must live each day trusting that Jesus will walk with us and be with us with each step we take. Times are uncertain, but He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. He will not change. His mercy and love is timeless. 

I Will Not Fear

Ps. 18:6 The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

The wicked hearts of men are able to kill the body. They are able to afflict suffering beyond imagination. Those that hated Jesus spit, whipped, pierced, and hung Him on a cross to die. Jesus said,  “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The reality is that in this earthly life, sin respects no one. It is natural to fear people who have no conscience and are bent on doing harm to anyone who gets in their way of selfish desires. We are reminded that we should not live in fear of such evil for the Lord is on our side. I don’t claim to understand the evil of our day and why God allows such wickedness to prevail. Even toward those who are serving God, life can be quickly taken away as a result of evil doers. No man can destroy or kill the life one has in Christ. If Christ be in us, who can be against us. I will not fear for He is with me no matter what man can do.

Corrupt Communcation

Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

The scripture has a lot to say about how Christian should be communicating. Before coming to Christ, unless trained otherwise, we took no thought about the words we spoke. The old self had no filter, it spoke what it thought, and would justify itself because they were injured or disrespected by someone else. When someone does wrong against us or violates our self image, the natural response of the “old man” is to lash back out. To get even, get revenge. “No one talks to me that way, I’ll show them”. Being angry at the actions of other people is not sinful, Paul said, “Be angry, but sin not”. Don’t let your displeasure cause you to spew out corrupt communication. Let the Holy Spirit put a guard on your tongue. Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit by allowing the devil to take control of the words you speak. Put on the “new man”. Let God transform the way you communicate the words that come out of your month. Especially those that are new born in Christ. It will be a work in progress. Putting off is a deliberate action that is taken. Refrain from using words that are filled with evil speaking and are malicious. But let the words you speak be uplifting and kind. A soft word turns away wrath. Entreats the Holy Spirit to empower you to be a witness for Christ and minister grace to those who may not be deserving.

Yet, I Will Rejoice

Habakkuk 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

In spite of all that may happen or all that may go wrong, I will still rejoice in the Lord. Praising God is a choice that we make. We can choose to blame God for our circumstances and hardship, or we can believe that God has everything under control. Believing that He is in control of life’s situations and yet choose to rejoice in Him is to have faith as a grain of a mustard seed. The prayer of faith looks beyond what seem possible and rejoices to know that all things are possible to them that choose to trust in God. Habakkuk faced things that seem to be unsurmountable, but He set His eyes on someone that was greater than His problems. Rejoice forevermore, even when things are not going so good. 

Flee to the Rock

Psalm 6:2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

The cares of life have a way of overwhelming us. To others, the things we are facing may seem insignificant. The things that overwhelm us in perspective may not be as big as what others may be facing, but at the time, they are real and have an effect on our emotional and spiritual well being. Whether our hearts are overwhelmed with something small or something big, He is still our Rock. He is the unmovable Rock that will shield us from the storms of life that we face in life. He is the “Gibraltar” that will stand when all else is washed away. Flee to the Rock and let Him be your shield and keep you from being overwhelm with life’s cares.

The Lord Told Me

1 Kings 13:17  For it was said to me by the word of the Lord.

Be weary of those who say, “The Lord told me”, especially if it affects the decisions you make or need to make. Counsel is good to seek and should come from someone who is living close to God. A person who not only knows the word of God, but also lives in the word of God. There are many voices that call out to us, but the one voice we must listen to is the one that speaks to our heart through the word of God. God will not have us do anything that is contrary to His word. It matters not how much or how long a person prays, God will NOT command anything that is not consistent with what He has spoken through the written word. Satan will come as an “angel of light” and twist the word of God to misdirect our steps, we must be diligent to seek the truth and ask God to reveal the light of His word to our hearts. The Holy Spirit will not led you into temptation,sin, and disobedience to His word. He is our guiding truth, and will not lead us astray.

The Heart of a Child

Mark 10:14 Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

There are some childish things that we should not put away. The disposition of children raised in environment where they are sheltered and protected is to trust those who care for them. They live life without care for they believe that their parent(s) will feed them, and keep them safe. They run, play and enjoy life without worrying if they will have supper, or have a place to rest their heads at night. It is this simple trust that the child of God has toward his Heavenly Father. He cares not today what tomorrow will bring, if sunshine or rain, he knows that God will provide for today and when the sun rises tomorrow morning. The kingdom of God consist of those who willing abandoned themselves to the providence of God and trust God that all will be well. The heart of a child is to trust.

Spotless and Blameless

1 Thess 5:23, 34 The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless… Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

It is God’s desire to keep us spotless and blameless from the contamination of the world and sin. Paul’s prayer was that God would sanctify believers, set them apart to be vessel of honor and live holy in this world. The enticement for pleasure, power, prestige, and popularity are strong pulls placed on the fleshly desires of man. It requires a full submission to the whole will of God, and indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to maintain our vessel clean and spotless. The promise of God is to sanctify us by sending the Holy Spirit to purge our hearts not only from the sins we have committed against Him, but to purify our hearts in faith. To do this, we must totally submit our will to surrender our lives into His hands. Be willing to pray without ceasing, give thanks in all things, do as the Spirit leads, follow the commands of God, and abstain from that which would cause us to be influence for evil. For this is the will of God, even our sanctification.

Don't Worry, God Has This Covered!

Matt. 6:34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself…

“Don’t worry, God has this covered!” We are creatures that fret about tomorrow. I believe it is part of our human nature. How we handle worry is the choice we make. We can go about our day and become “worry sick” and start to doubt that God cares or that God is even in control. There are many things in life that we don’t have any control over. Yes, if we had known the outcome of events, we could have chosen a different path, but we didn’t, and we face what is before us. The way life works, the other path would also present us with its worries. There was a song in the 80’s called “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” in life we will have trouble and things will happen, but we only double our trouble when we begin to worry. Jesus said, you can’t do anything about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself. Trust God for today. Cast all your cares and worries on Him, for He cares for you. When you begin to worry, think on the goodness of God, and His love for you. Trust in Him with all your heart, and this too shall come to pass.