The Holy One calls to me this morning . Encouraging words are what I hear and with so much to be discouraged by in these difficult days, the words of my Lord coming out of the darkness set the stage for our early morning conference.
"Remember the days of the tomb. I was at work in the darkness out of the sight of human eyes".
I cannot begin to fathom the emotional agony of the disciples in the time between the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. We read about it from start to finish knowing the glorious and epic end from the beginning. We read about the unbelief of the disciples and may even wonder how in just 3 days they lost their hope and faith?
However, if I take a minute and turn off what I know is the end of the story, I can relate to their deep agony. I too can live in the pain of unbelief as I await the answers to my prayers when the silence of the Tomb is deafening.
In Luke 24, we read about two of the disciples expressing the unbelief that most of them were struggling with as the two walked along the road to Emmaus:
"Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus about 7 miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus Himself came up and walked with them but they were kept from recognizing Him. He asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?"
The two began to relate to Him the events according to the sadness of their human hearts and minds. The fact that it as the 3rd day after the Crucifixion represented the day of utter hopelessness due to the Jewish belief that after the 3rd day the soul left the body making the death final.
They even told this "stranger" the story they heard from the women that morning about having gone to the Tomb and finding it empty including the testimony of the vision of angels and the message that Jesus was alive. Yet their unbelief persisted for up to that point, "Him, they did not see".
As I think about their unbelief I am convicted by my own. Until Jesus revealed Himself to them their faith was sealed in a tomb along with the crucified body of the One they called "Lord". Only when Jesus revealed Himself was their faith revived and the power of His resurrection became their reality. A personal encounter with the risen Savior was essential to their faith and essential to ours as well.
There are disturbing similarities between their faith and mine as I come to repent again for the deep and grievous sin of faithless unbelief and discouragement. The message this morning brings me hope and in my hope I plead for more manifestations of His Presence and intervention into the deep trials of life.
I petition for more miracles of His Divine intervention, without apology, because I am merely following the Lord's directive when He said in John 14:11, "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves".
Miracles are a sign of His Divine Being, His Sovereign authority and the evidence that He is who He says He is. He has Sovereign authority over all the circumstances and conditions of our earthbound lives and miracles are His privileged exercise of that authority.
The mystery of the Tomb cannot be explained by our finite minds, but lessons can be gleaned to comfort our discouraged souls. God's ultimate plan for humanity has never been derailed and God's ultimate plan for our personal lives will not be derailed either. Jesus said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you", and that applies even on the days when we may not see Him at work.
The dark days of the Tomb ended when the crucified Savior emerged in His rightful role as the glorious King of Kings. The freeze frame of that moment in history is absolutely stunning and lest we become apathetic or discouraged in the day-to-day trials of life, the promise of His present resurrected life and future glorious return has been written.
In hope, we need to prepare the way of the Lord and not wring our hands in despair at what is happening around and to us. As the dark days of the tomb held the suspenseful but glorious end to "death" for all who believe, it also holds our hope for some off-the-charts wondrous God resolutions to the trials we may be facing on earth as well.
Remembering that God did His greatest work in the dark days of the tomb has provided us with a reason for our hope-filled hearts to await His appearance in all the challenges we may face here on earth.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
"Remember the days of the tomb. I was at work in the darkness out of the sight of human eyes".
I cannot begin to fathom the emotional agony of the disciples in the time between the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. We read about it from start to finish knowing the glorious and epic end from the beginning. We read about the unbelief of the disciples and may even wonder how in just 3 days they lost their hope and faith?
However, if I take a minute and turn off what I know is the end of the story, I can relate to their deep agony. I too can live in the pain of unbelief as I await the answers to my prayers when the silence of the Tomb is deafening.
In Luke 24, we read about two of the disciples expressing the unbelief that most of them were struggling with as the two walked along the road to Emmaus:
"Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus about 7 miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus Himself came up and walked with them but they were kept from recognizing Him. He asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?"
The two began to relate to Him the events according to the sadness of their human hearts and minds. The fact that it as the 3rd day after the Crucifixion represented the day of utter hopelessness due to the Jewish belief that after the 3rd day the soul left the body making the death final.
They even told this "stranger" the story they heard from the women that morning about having gone to the Tomb and finding it empty including the testimony of the vision of angels and the message that Jesus was alive. Yet their unbelief persisted for up to that point, "Him, they did not see".
As I think about their unbelief I am convicted by my own. Until Jesus revealed Himself to them their faith was sealed in a tomb along with the crucified body of the One they called "Lord". Only when Jesus revealed Himself was their faith revived and the power of His resurrection became their reality. A personal encounter with the risen Savior was essential to their faith and essential to ours as well.
There are disturbing similarities between their faith and mine as I come to repent again for the deep and grievous sin of faithless unbelief and discouragement. The message this morning brings me hope and in my hope I plead for more manifestations of His Presence and intervention into the deep trials of life.
I petition for more miracles of His Divine intervention, without apology, because I am merely following the Lord's directive when He said in John 14:11, "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves".
Miracles are a sign of His Divine Being, His Sovereign authority and the evidence that He is who He says He is. He has Sovereign authority over all the circumstances and conditions of our earthbound lives and miracles are His privileged exercise of that authority.
The mystery of the Tomb cannot be explained by our finite minds, but lessons can be gleaned to comfort our discouraged souls. God's ultimate plan for humanity has never been derailed and God's ultimate plan for our personal lives will not be derailed either. Jesus said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you", and that applies even on the days when we may not see Him at work.
The dark days of the Tomb ended when the crucified Savior emerged in His rightful role as the glorious King of Kings. The freeze frame of that moment in history is absolutely stunning and lest we become apathetic or discouraged in the day-to-day trials of life, the promise of His present resurrected life and future glorious return has been written.
In hope, we need to prepare the way of the Lord and not wring our hands in despair at what is happening around and to us. As the dark days of the tomb held the suspenseful but glorious end to "death" for all who believe, it also holds our hope for some off-the-charts wondrous God resolutions to the trials we may be facing on earth as well.
Remembering that God did His greatest work in the dark days of the tomb has provided us with a reason for our hope-filled hearts to await His appearance in all the challenges we may face here on earth.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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