Time to Celebrate

“He will destroy death forever.” Isaiah 25:8

Jesus explained that the river of death was nothing to fear. The people wouldn’t believe him. He touched a boy and called him back to life . . . He let a dead man spend four days in a grave and then called him out. Is that enough? Apparently not. For it was necessary for him to . . . submerge himself in the water of death before people would believe that death had been conquered.

After he . . . came out on the other side of death’s river . . . it was time to celebrate.

What to Do With The Cross

 “I identified myself completely with him . . . I have been crucified with Christ.”  Galatians 2:19, The Message

For every cunning Caiaphas there was a daring Nicodemus. For every cynical Herod there was a questioning Pilate . . . For every turncoat Judas there was a faithful John. There was something about the crucifixion that made every witness either step toward it or away from it . . .

Two thousand years later, the same is true . . . We can do what we want with the cross. We can examine its history. We can study its theology . . . Yet the one thing we can’t do is walk away neutral.

Thoughts 

Broken things become useful in God’s hands.

Sooner or later you’ll have to face God.

Have faith in God - not faith in faith.

Christ is the reason for the season.

Obedience to God is the key to freedom.

Blessed:

Count your blessings—name them one by one;

Count your blessings—see what God hath done;

Count your blessings—name them one by one;

Count your many blessings—see what God hath done. —Oatman

God’s Refining Fire:

God deliberately uses some situations as a mirror, so we can recognize the problem in ourselves and learn to deal with it.