August 02 - 07, 2010

Monday August o2, 2010
Basis For Belief
1 Corinthians 15:12-19; Romans 3:23, 5:6

It is commonly thought that there really is no such thing as death. Rather, people think that when they die they are merely in a state of transition. Some hold that Jesus did not actually die, not realizing that if such were true, then His "resurrection" was no resurrection at all.
It is essential to understand what death and resurrection are. Death is the opposite of life--a falling away from life. Resurrection is restoring the life which had ceased to exist, a setting up again, a giving back. Death is the end of being; resurrection is the restoration of being. When we understand this, Christ's resurrection can be understood as a momentous display of God's mighty power. God's resurrecting power is greater than sin or death--and death is sin's inescapable result in every human being.

The more one yearns for God, the more the Bible's teaching about resurrection satisfies our longings. The more we know of life's disappointments, injustices, and failures, the more our sense of love, justice, and equity encourages us to accept the resurrection as a fact. The future resurrection of all vindicates God's character. Because of the resurrection, we see God as loving and just. We can understand how "...all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" and thus that "Christ died for the ungodly."--Rom. 3:23, 5:6

Jesus Christ did rise from the dead! We are confident about salvation through Jesus Christ because of the testimony of others. They, from personal knowledge, wrote about Jesus' rising from the dead. If their witness is false, then Christian faith and our hope of a future life is without foundation. But our redeemer, Jesus, died for our sins. A savior who has not arisen from death can offer no hope of salvation! We rejoice that "Christ has arisen." The New Testament writers appealed to the reality of Christ's resurrection as the basis of faith and hope. Paul taught that Jesus' resurrection was a foundation teaching of our faith.


Tuesday August 03, 2010
Be Known
Read 1 Corinthians 2:10-16; 1 Corinthians 13:12

You have to be close to know, you have to be close to be known. You have to be close to someone to really know them. To know the deep things of God, His nature, and His wonderful plan, we first have to do something. We must have Christ at the center of our lives; we must fully trust and believe in Him, then we can have the Holy Spirit living inside of us revealing the very nature of God and His plan for our lives. We have to have God’s Spirit living inside of us to comprehend God. With God’s Spirit living in us we can have insight into some of God’s plans, thoughts and actions.

Are you spending enough time with God to be known? We must spend time consistently in His presence and in His Word.
Are you known by God? Can He depend on you?


Wednesday August 04, 2010
Soar
Read Isaiah40:28-31

The passage in Isaiah tells us that God created us to soar like the eagle. But we have to know how to get up there in order to soar. We are created to soar with the Holy Spirit providing the up-draft. On the ground eagles are somewhat awkward and clumsy. They would not survive long if they had to survive solely on hunting for food while on the ground. On the ground, represents when we are trying to do things of our own power—we are clumsy and make many mistakes. This is because God didn't make us to do things in our own power, He created us to soar with the Holy Spirit lifting us up.

Eagles soar because God created them to soar—it is an important part of their life. In fact it is necessary for them to find food. Some eagles can cover 200 miles of desert—searching for food—and hardly beat a wing. The obvious question is: how can they do that? Once they get up to a certain height they take advantage of every single up-draft. In the original Hebrew the words used for Holy Spirit of God literally mean the breath of God (Ruach HaKodesh). We can soar because the Holy Spirit—the breath of God—is the wind beneath our wings. The Holy Spirit provides the up-draft that helps us soar as we place our hope in God. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to carry us.


Thursday August 05, 2010
Weary or Burdened? You Can Find Rest!
Read Matthew 11:28; 2 Corinthians 4:16

In our lives there are always times that come to us when we are fed up and feel the weight of the world on our shoulders. We feel that everything is going wrong and things get so bad that you cannot see any light at the end of the dark tunnel. We become weary and burdened, and at this time it is easy to feel miserable.

However, what did Christ tell us? What words must we turn to in these times? Jesus tells us that He will give us rest - this is His promise to us. But what must we do to allow this promise to come true? We must come to Jesus!
Jesus tells us that He is gentle and humble in heart, and in his heart we will be able to find rest for our souls. So we must know and have the heart of Christ. We must know the love and the purpose of Jesus' heart.
In knowing Christ's heart a new world will be opened up to us, and if we swap our worldly burdens for the burdens of the Lord, then the burden will be light. We will see ourselves as the precious sons of God, and will be able to work diligently for this Kingdom of God as sons. A true son will do his father's work and carry his father's burdens joyfully. Suddenly then burden is not a worry any more - it is a precious gift to be able to bring joy to your father by the works that you do in your life.

So let us truly take rest in the Lord, let us go forward with the heart of seeking Christ and wanting to know His heart:


Friday August 06, 2010
God Inhabits the Praise…… Worship!
Read Psalms 22:3; Hebrews 10:1

Praise Elevates us into God’s Presence and Power! Paul and Silas knew the secret of how to lift their hearts above their troubles and enter into God’s presence and power. Through praise and worship their hearts were raised into the joyous presence and peace of God, and provided God a channel for his power to operate in their circumstances. The Bible says that God inhabits in the praises of His people (Psalms 22:3). In other words, God “dwells” in the atmosphere of His praise. This means that praise is not merely a reaction from coming into His presence - Praise is a vehicle of faith which brings us into the presence and power of God! Praise and worship is the “gate-pass” which allows us to enter the sacredness of His glory. The psalmist writes, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalms 100:4).

When we worship God for who He is and give him our all, we can touch His face and when we touch His face we are changed! Worship God with all your heart and come near. An old song rings in my ear. Softly and tenderly, Jesus is calling. He is calling us to come near.


The Weekender August 07-08, 2010
The Good News of The Resurrection
Romans 4:25; Acts 2:24, 36; 1 Corinthians 15:15

What is the Good News about Jesus? Briefly, it is salvation through belief in His sacrificial death and in His resurrection. The apostles taught this Gospel. The Gospel's dual aspects are prominent in Romans 4:25: "Who [Jesus] was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” Peter emphasized these aspects on the day of Pentecost. He testified, "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be-holden of it...Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."--Acts 2:24, 36. If Christ is not raised, believers remain under the dominion of sin and death. If Christ is not raised, then no power exists that can deliver anyone from God's just condemnation to death and overcome sin in us. Without resurrection, the holy life, ministry and death of Jesus would profit neither Him nor others.

Without the resurrection, Satan has conquered. The qualities which Jesus embodied and exemplified--innocence, purity, faithfulness, truth, love--are crushed. Malice, hatred and wickedness would triumph over them. Without the resurrection, the prince of darkness has blotted out the prince of light! But Jesus Christ did rise from the dead! Why is Jesus' resurrection important? Because by raising Jesus from death to the power of an endless life, God showed that He approved of all that Jesus did and taught. Jesus is "...declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead."--Rom. 1:4.

Those who love darkness shun the doctrine of Christ's death and resurrection. Those who love darkness do not want to change their life-style. They not only do not want to admit that God's way is better, they don't want to admit that their choices will inevitably end in their own death.
God instructs us throughout the Bible that we should choose between doing our will or His. Those who respond favorably to this counsel stand before God to acknowledge their shame and nakedness. They accept Jesus' righteousness to cover their nakedness and understand that His Word and spirit are ready to direct their lives in righteous paths.