Sunday, March 31, 2019

JESUS CHANGES EVERYTHING

Today’s Reading: 1 Samuel 26-27

Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).

 

This photo is of the Jordan Valley wilderness (or Judean Desert) looking towards Jerusalem, which is just beyond the horizon.

GOOGLE MAPS – To see where the photo was taken, click HERE.

 

Key Verse: 1 Samuel 26:23

May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed.

We may be dismayed as a result of today’s reading. Man’s inhumanity to man is evident, and yet David was loyal to Saul, who became his enemy. David loved Saul as evidenced by David’s lament at Saul’s death. As a shepherd, David’s enemies were the mountain lions and the bears. He wrote, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23). We have the advantage of looking ahead through the centuries to the Seed of David, Jesus, who loves unconditionally and who has won the ultimate battle against the “last enemy” (read 1 Corinthians 15:20-28). “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
The resurrection of Jesus is the proof of Jesus’ total victory!!! The words of the angels found in Luke 24:6 are, “He is not here, He is risen!” (click here to read a resurrection chapter, Luke 24).

PRAYER FOR TODAY:

Lord Jesus, in another resurrection chapter (1 Corinthians 15), Your servant, Paul, draws a conclusion from the fact that You are risen from the dead. I conclude with Paul that I am to be “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” I pray for Your resurrection power to be released more and more in me to produce in a greater way those results. In Your conquering Name, Jesus, I pray. Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:

I’ve stood at the graves of my mother and father, one in Ruperts, Quebec, and the other in Elgin, Ontario. Mother died when I was 12 and Dad when I was 36. I heard the minister say the words of Jesus, “I am the resurrection and the life.” I thought, “It’s true! I believe it!” As I read the words on their grave stones, I’ve exclaimed, “O Lord, the resurrection could happen right now while I’m standing here!” But I walk away knowing that there’s still work to be done.

Bruce Stacey, my son-in-law, created animated video shows called God Rocks, where the rocks speak. Bruce was inspired by the words of Jesus on Palm Sunday, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:40). My favourite episode in the series is called “Rez, the Rock that Rolled.” The rock’s name had been “Tombstone,” an unhappy, pessimistic rock. But when he was rolled away by the angels and Jesus walked out of the tomb, his name was changed to “Rez!” His whole nature and outlook on life was transformed. Here is a link to some visuals from that episode (Unfortunately, I’m told that the DVDs of this episode are currently out of stock).

Yours in complete confidence that the stone was rolled away and “He is risen!”

David

The Garden Tomb, Jerusalem.

Many believe that it was inside this “Garden Tomb” in Jerusalem that Jesus’ body was laid. This tomb was originally made for a shorter man, perhaps Joseph of Arimathea, but as you can see on the right, the end was dug out to fit a taller man’s body.

5 thoughts on “Sunday, March 31, 2019

  1. “…….because their words seemed to them like nonsense.”

    ” …11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.”

    I think we all know that ‘the world’ see the Good News ‘as nonsense’ as did the disciples on the first Easter morning when they were told “He is risen.”
    I have to go now.God bless

    Off The Cross

    They opened my flesh to the bone,
    Harder still when they heard no moan,
    As meat was torn from my ribs;
    For my clothes they claimed dibs.

    As the cross was still on the ground,
    A mother’s sobs were the only sound,
    My body ached in so much pain,
    From the whips that fell like rain.

    They drove the spike through my hand,
    As my Father’s shadow covered the land,
    Then they raised the cross up high
    To where my body would soon die.

    Each breath then came with bolts of pain
    As Satan sought this world to regain.
    But he knew I would do it again
    Just to break his worldly reign.

    That is why I broke the serpent’s sword
    And became your loving,willing Lord,
    For to step down off the cross,
    The world then would be My loss.
    GW (Bill) Marshall/ (2011~2012)

  2. so wonderful to be take therr again. I love your blogs, photos, david’s comments, how do I support financially to keep these wonderful daily “lifts” coming?

  3. so wonderful to be taken there again. I love your blogs, photos, david’s comments, how do I support financially to keep these wonderful daily “lifts” coming?

  4. Great scripture; prayer, photos (I have been in the tomb. and Jesus is not in it; He’s Alive and lives forevermore:) Praise His Holy Name!!!

    We are alive in Him !!

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