If you had only been here,

"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died." — John 11:21

If you have ever stood at the grave side of a loved one, this thought probably crossed your mind, too — if you had only been here, Lord! Where is Jesus when we hurt? Why couldn't he be here to help us? There are a couple of crucial answers to remember. First, Jesus is with us in our moments of loss and grief. 

The Church is Jesus' Body and every act of kindness, support, comfort, and help is Jesus working to alleviate our grief. Second, while he may not have kept our loved one from passing from this life to the next, he has been the abiding and unbroken presence for each Christian who has died physically. 

Paul reminds us that when a Christian dies, he or she goes to be with Christ (2 Cor. 5:6-7; Phil. 1:21-23) and God's loving presence is never lost to him or her (Rom. 8:35-39)

Impact of receiving Blessings!

Like a gold ring in a pig's snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion. — Proverbs 11:22

To take what is physically beautiful and then profane it with sin is to waste a great gift. It is blessing someone who doesn't even have a clue why God gave the blessing of physical beauty. 

No matter what gifts we have been given, whether physical beauty, athletic talent, keen intellect, a charming personality, or anything else, we must remember that God blessed us with these things so we could bless others and honor him!

Influence of God's Spirit!

He [Barnabas] was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. — Acts 11:24

Barnabas was a good man! Why? For many reasons. But, the key reason was that he was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. This shouldn't surprise us. 

When the Holy Spirit lives in us, he is at work producing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and conforming us to the character of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

 No wonder Barnabas' influence was so great on the lives of those who lived in Antioch; his life was under the influence of God's Spirit!

[Message No: 7939]