Resurrected Hope, Future, and Dreams!

Mark 5:36 – “Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

So, they go to the house, people are in full mourning.  Shouting.  Making noise.  Wailing. Grieving.  In anguish.  Jesus tells them to be quiet.  She’s sleeping.

What a cruel joke to play on the parents.  How would he know?  She’s dead.  The doctor called it.  No pulse, no breathing. --- Jesus gets rid of them…the text says “he put them out” …just like you put out a dog to go do his business. I don’t know about you, but I am glad that Jesus puts out bad, ugly negatives when he arrives.

Taking the parents and just a few disciples, they go to the child.  He reaches down, picks up her lifeless hand and says, “Little girl, get up.”  Speaking in Aramaic … her native tongue. Jesus restores the dream of daughter, a family by meeting them in their native surroundings.

Immediately, just as the woman was restored immediately to full health, the little girl is immediately resurrected to full life.  She walked around and everything! We can well imagine the joy in that house that day!  We can well imagine the wonder at this man who can heal, and also raise the dead!  What a miracle!  Who can do such things?  Only Jesus, the Son of the Living God!

Resurrection is not limited to when our heart stops beating. Jesus resurrects hopes, resurrects futures, and resurrects dreams everyday.

Success is found when you and I approach Jesus … we have to water and cultivate our faith and trust in him just like Jairus and the Woman did. If you don’t, your hope, your future and your dreams die.

The first week at Park Chapel CC, I noticed in the foyer / hallway to the worship center was a large pot with basically a stick protruding out of dirt with one leaf on it. The plant was completely dry. I felt sorry for it, so I started watering it…six months later the stick was covered in little green leaves. I did not know that the custodial staff was intentionally ignoring it because they wanted to throw it out. We laughed about that…When we moved to HCC, after seven years … that plant was taller than I am now and covered in large, beautiful leaves. What resurrected that plant? Water!

My Friends, what do we learn from this scripture? Go to Jesus to find water, let him reach out to you and he will resurrect your hope, your future and your dreams.

You know I love ya, Don

The thread follows the needle!

Matt. 1:24 ~ "And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus."

The Bible defines faith with obedience and obedience with faith. In other words, they are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. Obedience is doing what God has said. Obedience is not doing what others say, or doing what other say God has said, or doing what you wish God has said. It is simply doing what God says.

The Bible uses some interesting figures to represent Christians and their relationship to God: Vine an branches, Sculptor and clay, Shepherd and sheep.

An African convert used another metaphor. He prayed: "O Lord, You are the needle and I am the thread." Having just visited a school where girls were learning to sow, he noticed a simple principle: wherever the needle went, the thread followed. That, he decided, represented his relationship to God. If he would stay close to the Lord, praying, reading His Word, depending entirely upon Him and following Him, he would make it to heaven. He was simply the thread following the needle.

Each year as Christmas rolls around, different thoughts come to mind. "Vision of sugar plums dance in our heads." You may drive through your neighborhood and see an elaborate nativity display. Perhaps you’ll even attend a play, with children or adults reenacting the precious events that brought our Lord and Savior into this world.

Throughout this season, however, and throughout the rest of your life, I hope that you will take with you, the lessons that we are the thread attached to the needle that is piercing the barriers of darkness found in this life. You know I love ya, Don

To Dream a new DREAM!

God's Invitations Bring New Dreams.
 

Matthew 1:20, “But after he had considered this” Don’t you know that was all he could think about: wake up / eat / try to make small-talk / work / sit through a sermon at the synagogue / try to sleep...when we are faced with a dilemma or crisis is takes over and our entire being if forced to think and consider what the next plan of action will be....

It could have been several days and finally he got to sleep... then the angel came to him in a dream, sent from God, and whispered into his ear 2 secrets:

Fear Not!

There is no reason to fear God's invitation. In verse 20 Matthew records: ““Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.” When God extends an invitation there is no need to be afraid.

Dale Carnegie says: “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” God's angel says the same thing to Joseph. Stop sitting there and get busy because!

Salvation has come!

The Angel tells Joseph in verse 21: “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus: a common name in the 1st century. The OT translation was the name Joshua. [Yeshua] But our Lord has a way of taking the common and making it uncommon / ordinary…extraordinary!

Acts 4:10-12: “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead...Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Jesus lived the sinless, perfect life we could not live, died the sacrificial death in our place, rose and conquered death for us, to make it possible for us to be with him…God was with us, that He might be IN us!

God's invitations bring Dilemmas... God's invitations bring be Dreams... God's Invitations offer us Decisions.

 Matthew 1:24 states: “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” The key word: “did”—Joseph’s decision was to be faithful to the will of God / do what God told him to do / to bear the responsibility and shame as if he and Mary had sinned! They lived under a cloud of public shame, as though they were guilty of immorality, and Joseph accepted the responsibility of caring for a woman thought to have been a fornicator, and rearing a child thought to be illegitimate!

Joseph’s decision was to do what was right no matter the cost, to do God’s will even in the face of criticism, even if we’re misunderstood or falsely judged!

New dreams are the hope of Christmas...what dreams are in your future?

You know I love ya, Don