Saturday Spiritual Uplift - If There Were No Resurrection?

And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.  In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. (1 Cor. 15:16-20)

When we were children, we had to take some things on faith. When Mom and Dad left you with a babysitter, but promised to return, we knew they were coming back (unless you had some tragic circumstances in your childhood).  When Mom told me to eat my vegetables, because they were good for me—besides, I wouldn’t get dessert unless I ate them—I choked down my mushy peas. When Dad said he’d hold onto me in the pool and that I would be okay, I had to learn to trust him until I could stand up in the water or swim on my own. We had to take a lot of things by faith when we were children and it was easier then to have childlike faith.

So many people question the greatest miracle of all time—the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Yet there were plenty of eyewitnesses. And Jesus showed others he could raise people back to life before his death by bringing back Lazarus and others. Those that question are more willing to believe that planets formed spontaneously rather than believe they were created with loving order

and that Jesus, the Living Word, who through all things were created, actually made them. Which takes more faith?

The apostle Paul says we are “more to be pitied” than anyone in the world if Jesus hasn’t been raised from the dead.  For if Jesus has no power over death, how can he wash away our sins and forgive us, giving us new spiritual life? Jesus said that those who didn’t see, but still believed would be blessed. We don’t get to physically see the risen Christ in this world. We have to take it on faith and that faith is a gift from God. If you so willingly question God about whether the resurrection is real, why don’t You ask God to give you the faith instead—faith to see and believe the precious accounts of Jesus’ death and resurrection, to trust Him for the forgiveness of sins?

Followers of Christ need not be pitied, for the tomb is empty: He is risen! He is risen indeed! 

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.  (Romans 10:9-10)

Saturday Spiritual Uplift - Faith, Not Fear

Faith, Not Fear

He renews my strength.
 He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.

Even when I walk
through the darkest valley, 
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff
 protect and comfort me.

(NLT Psalm 23:3-4)

Remember when you were a child and you couldn’t sleep, because someone had told you a scary story or you had watched a frightening movie?  Or perhaps you have a little one in your house who wants you to repeatedly check for the monster under the bed or open the closet door to prove no horrible creature lurks there, waiting to jump out and devour them.

When I was a little girl, we had a Saturday afternoon program in the Detroit area, which played mostly old black and white horror movies—mild by today’s standards, but enough to fuel the imagination. I was probably nine or ten when I was allowed to start watching them. Back then vampires were villains that sucked the life out of you, leaving you doomed to the same evil form. 

To make matters worse, my upstairs bedroom had the door leading to the dust porch. What a convenient place for a ghoul to sneak in, despite Mom locking both the sturdy storm and inside doors. I was convinced that something would vaporize through the cracks around the frame! And I was sure, werewolves, or whatever else might lurk in the dark were athletic enough to climb up onto the porch and break the door down. I hid under the covers, so I couldn’t see shadows in the darkened room around me or anything that might think moved. I clung to my cross necklace or a rosary to protect myself, yet those were just symbols I held onto. 

How much greater is the real power of the One who overcame the cross and rose from the dead. Jesus Christ is here with us through each of life’s difficulties. As the shepherd would use the rod to protect the sheep from their predators or the staff’s crooked end to pull a sheep out of harm’s way, He is with His sheep today. One word from Him can fell our enemies. We can’t see what happens in the spiritual realm, but He is there.

We meet “darkest valleys” throughout our lives. Times when illness plagues us or returns when least expected, husbands or wives fall short of their wedding vows, friends hurt us deeply, someone we love is injured or dies. The car accident, house fire, job loss, deep disappointment and stress . . . on and on, life seems at times filled with these dark valley moments.

Jesus is always there with us, even when we can’t feel His presence. We need to turn our eyes toward Him and follow Him through the valley until we emerge out of it, whether here on earth or in His heavenly presence. These are times we can look back and often better see how the Lord worked in our lives.

While I can look back and smile at the thought of myself cowering under the blankets, because of imaginary monsters, I can have joy in the amazing things He has done in the past and will surely continue to do in the future. We can move forward with great confidence, knowing that the Good Shepherd watches over and protects us through whatever dark valley we face.

Heavenly Father, help us to remember you are with us always and to have the faith to continually trust in You. Amen.

Saturday Spiritual Uplift

Where Were You, Lord?

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. (Heb. 11:1, NLT)

As I was driving to an appointment (and as usual hadn’t left myself enough extra time), I missed my turn. I thought the sign was telling me that the turn was for 12 Mile Road, but that I was still on M-5 North. Unfortunately, the sign was showing me that I needed to turn off of I-96 at that point to take M-5 northward. Instead of being at the medical facility in West Bloomfield, I ended up in Northville, basically in the opposite direction. Once I took the turn around and was eventually back on the right road, I was able to find office building. I was quite late and fully prepared to reschedule and head home, but they were gracious enough to still accommodate me. 

Going home, I hit rush hour traffic and took quite awhile to return. I suppose the whole thing only took me an extra half hour, but the anxiety and stress made my little trip seem worse. I returned safely home and I know the Lord was with me the whole time. He told His disciples He would go with them to the ends of the earth! But He allowed me that little detour. Things didn’t go perfectly even though He was there. If anything, it was simply a consequence of my poor planning.

Every day, believers are going through much more difficult detours in life. Unexpected serious illness takes hold, marriages fail, jobs are lost, wayward children leave families behind and terrible accidents happen. These are the things that test our faith.

When Lazarus had died, his sister, Martha, said to Jesus when he arrived on the scene, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” How honest Martha was with Jesus! And if I’m honest there are many times that I am asking that question. For example, when my husband fell off the roof 15 years ago I wondered why He allowed that to happen. After each of my four miscarriages I wondered why He allowed each baby to die in the womb when each of them were so loved and wanted.

When I ask why, I’m really asking the Lord where He was when that happened, because if He’d been doing what I wanted, those bad things wouldn’t have happened. But get this, it’s what I wanted. I wasn’t asking what He wanted to do in my life through those things at first. That took a while longer.

A little later, when Jesus asked for the stone to be removed from Lazarus’ grave, Martha complained that since her brother had been buried four days before, it would smell pretty awful. Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” Jesus called Lazarus forth from the tomb and Martha had her happy ending regarding Lazarus, right then and there.

For us it isn’t always so immediate. We need to trust even when we don’t have the instant results we want and believe that the Lord is here working on the results He wants to see in our lives. As we come to know Him better and center on His presence more fully, we’ll begin to want what He wants in our lives, which is the best for us.

Father, please teach us to desire You and Your will most of all, to know You are working out your perfect plan, despite how it may look to us today. Please give us the gift of faith that we might trust You more fully. Amen.

Saturday Spiritual Uplift - Heating Things Up

Heating Things Up – A Real Beauty Treatment

Cut ruby, image in public domain via Wikimedia Commons

I have fun designing and making jewelry. I even took a metal smithing class a few years ago. Mainly, I enjoy creating bracelets and necklaces with beads right now, but on a whim I decided to look for a gemstone website to browse for fun. I love looking at the sparkly jewels, cut from the rock they were imbedded in, given precise faceting and polished to a reflective shine. Beautiful! God made these lovely gems and man used his God-given talents to bring out their brilliance.

Garnets are one of my favorite gemstones, which is a good thing, since it’s my birthstone. I’m amazed at how many different colors there are, from purplish to green! My husband gave me a lovely rhodalite garnet ring for my 30^th birthday, ahem, mumble years ago. The stone is a deep red color infused with shades of violet. It almost looks like a ruby.

Since I like red stones I also enjoyed looking at rubies on one of the websites I was browsing and learned something new. Did you know that all but the finest stones are usually heat treated to bring out their color? When a decent quality ruby is heated nearly to the melting point, a new crystalline structure is formed that brings out a deeper red. The lesser quality rubies have many little fractures, which are filled with dyed leaded glass to improve their appearance and lessen the flaws to the naked eye.

Heat treated rubies. Photo via Wikimedia Commons [cc] by
Mauro Cateb

The fracture filling technique sounds a lot easier on the ruby if you ask me, but you don’t get the same brilliance that the heating technique brings out. The Lord, however, is interested in making us more like His Son, Jesus right down to the insides of our hearts. He doesn’t want to perform a little slap and dab cosmetic fix on the outside, just so we look good. This is why the trials He allows in our lives put so much pressure on us. While we are already new creatures in Christ if we are His children, we still need the heat kept on us to help purge the impurities from these fleshly minds and hearts we still wrestle with. Our thought patterns need to be changed and we need to direct our hearts more toward Him.

I must confess that I find it difficult to be thankful for trials, yet I know I need to keep my eyes on Jesus, who has a reason for allowing or putting me through difficulties. As believers, it isn’t always easy to have an eternal perspective in a finite world, but I’m slowly learning. I guess the question for me is: Would I rather be like the ruby of lesser quality, fracture filled and looking good to others? Or would I prefer to be more like the ruby with a deeper, truer color, reflecting the beauty of Christ to others from the inside out? 

Lord, teach us to see trials as you do, as means of purifying our faith and making us more like You. Help us to trust You through the difficult times. In Jesus’ name we ask these things, amen.

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

(James 1:2-4, NLT)

These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

(1 Peter 1:7, NLT)

Information on rubies found at www.gemselect.com. 

Saturday Spiritual Uplift - Thinking About Time

Fisher Building, Detroit,
from Wikimedia Commons {GNU}

 Thinking About Time

God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”

And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day. (Gen. 1:5, NLT)

For you, a thousand years are as a passing day,


as brief as a few night hours. (Ps. 90:4, NLT)

So teach us to number our days,


That we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Ps. 90:12, NKJV)

When I was a little girl, we often drove into downtown Detroit for doctor and dentist appointments. Dad pulled the car in front of the Fisher Building, the tallest building in Detroit at the time, and Mom and I got out. The building was only 30 stories tall, a junior skyscraper among skyscrapers today, but when I gazed up at the tower of concrete and marble with windows stacked floor upon floor, reaching up toward the sky, dizziness overtook me and my heart drummed away. To my petite personage, the height of the Fisher Building was incomprehensible.

Often when I’ve thought of the eternal nature of God I have felt this same way. When those feelings overtake me I know I'm out ofmy league in comprehension. Faith must take over. Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega—the Trinity has no beginning and no end. Does that mean everything is in a circle and time just repeats itself? I doubt that, but I do believe the Lord sees time differently than we do. He invented linear time for us, but He’s not limited by it.

As humans we like to read stories or watch shows about time travel, because the subject is fascinating for us. What if we could travel to the past? Could we change what we’ve done, so that mistakes are fixed? If we traveled to the future would we really want to know what awaits us? We’d like to know the good things, but would we be ready to deal with the negative?

God, on the other hand, exists eternally. He was with us in the past, He is in our present and our future. He gives us wisdom to deal with consequences and to learn from our mistakes and He supplies grace for the difficulties that lie ahead, when the time comes. He is infinite, but our finite little minds can’t comprehend all of these layers at one time, so the years of our lives are linear, numbered in days. If we ask, He will guide us to make the best use of our time, one day at a time, in this new year of 2014.

Father, please give us Your wisdom and grace for the days ahead. Help us to number the days of this year and use them in a way, which would please You. Thank you for whatever time You’ve given us to live for You. Amen.

Saturday Spiritual Uplift - Faith in the Unseen

Faith in the Unseen

Garlic bulbs aren’t very pretty. They have lined papery skin covering their awkward shape. Much the same can be said for various flower bulbs. They’re dull in color and there’s nothing remarkable about them. Wait for spring, though, and their stems burst through the thawed soil and announce their presence with a colorful bud.

At the house I grew up in, a white wooden fence stood across the driveway as a backdrop to a row of my mom’s tulips. I don’t know how many years they continued to come back, but I remember those pink, yellow and red blossoms announcing that spring was indeed in full swing for decades.

When a bulb is buried in the dirt, deeply enough not to be dug up and eaten by deer or rodent, we can’t see how its roots sprout, entwining in the soil below. All winter long, there’s no sign of life visible to our eyes, but still we hope and wait for the snow to melt, the ground to thaw, so that the bulbs can send forth shoots of green with sprouting buds. First we see the crocus, then daffodil, then hyacinth and tulip in their lovely array.

(by Anna Paulowna, from Wikimedia Commons)

In Chapter Four of Romans, I read how Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness, that his salvation wasn’t one of works, but of God’s grace. In verses 16 and 17 it says: So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

Abraham didn’t have the scriptures to read yet or the example of Jesus being raised from the dead, yet still he believed that God could raise the dead and create something from nothing. How much more I should believe Him and trust Him for each day! When we confront the impossible situations in life, we have a Lord and Savior with whom all things are possible. We can trust Him to do something better than we ever imagined, even when we can’t always see how He is working.

How has the Lord encouraged you in your faith walk this week?

This is a month of celebration and thanksgiving! I am celebrating the release of Brave New Century, containing my debut novella, The Pocket Watch, with more give-aways. This week, leave a comment and/or follow, for a chance (each time you enter) to win a $15 Amazon gift card. The drawing for the week will be tomorrow, Nov. 10, so please leave a comment before tomorrow evening! 

Saturday Spiritual Uplift - Unburdened

Unburdened

When it comes to my back, I am a sort of a wimp. I’ve experienced enough muscle spasms and been to enough physical therapy sessions to persuade me to be more cautious. My left leg is ¾” shorter than my right and tends to throw things out of balance. I am careful with what and about how I lift.

A couple of weeks ago I found myself without my handy husband there to help lift a 35 lb. container of the concentrated weight of kitty litter. On that gray, chilly day in the pet supply store parking lot, I braced my one foot against the bottom of the cart and the back of my leg against the bumper of my Chevy Venture. I grasped the handle of the bucket and prayed that I wouldn’t pull my muscles any more than I had, when I’d hurt them the day before. I looked up and saw a young man coming out of the store. He glanced my way and I averted my eyes, so that he wouldn’t think I was looking for help. Actually, I was thinking that I hoped he didn’t think I looked like the pathetic weakling I am.

Before I managed to muster the strength I needed, the dark-haired guy was standing in front of me. “Can I help you with that?” I could barely stutter out a question of whether he truly minded, by the time he hoisted the container into the back of my minivan. And as I went to pick up the second one, he wanted to assist me with it as well. I thanked him profusely. Another gentleman asked if he could take my empty basket, so I didn’t even need to return it to the sidewalk. I climbed into the driver’s seat of my car, relieved the Lord had provided me with help, when I least expected. I breathed a prayer of thanks.

A stranger, who didn’t know anything of my thoughts, worries or limitations had offered to take the problem of lifting the kitty litter into my car, into his hands. 1 Peter 5:7 tells us: Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (NLT) My Heavenly Father, who created me and knows me intimately, longs for me to unburden myself, to give Him the fears on my heart, the worries I hold onto for loved ones. The worry lines embedded in my forehead attest to the fact that I don’t leave it with Him enough.

Yet, my worrying cannot change a thing. Praying and leaving these things is letting the Lord do the heavy work. He is always near my side, offering to help. He asks that I obey Him and take Him up on His generous offer one day at a time.

Psalm 33:20-21(NLT)

We put our hope in the Lord. He is our help and our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.

Matthew 6:34(NLT)

. . . don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Saturday Spiritual Uplift

A Debt Paid in Full

Mounting national debt. Over a trillion dollars worth owed to China. A slow-growing economy. Thirty years ago, who would have ever thought this could be possible in the U.S.? No, I’m not getting political here, only pointing out that as the national debt surpasses $17 trillion, the average citizen finds it hard to imagine how we will ever repay that debt--and downright depressing.

Numerous radio commercials and online ads will tell you the end of the world is coming . . . or practically. They say their book or CD has the answer to avoid the approaching economic cataclysm. You pay the author or speaker a small, reasonable amount and they’ll give you a foolproof method for becoming rich and avoiding tragedy. Really? Do you think any of those offers come with an ironclad guarantee? Absolutely not!

There’s only one debt ever paid in full with an eternal guarantee! As we went over this in Bible study on Thursday, I thought about how unlike the national debt, Jesus’ provision for His people is. Jesus’ death on the cross, as a perfect sacrifice for our sin, paid our debt in full! We only have to humble ourselves and realize there’s nothing we as humans can do to earn salvation for ourselves. Jesus sealed the deal by proving He could overcome death by His resurrection power.

Jesus would rather that none would perish. He would rather prepare a heavenly home for you to live with Him in eternity, because of His mercy and grace, rather than owe a debt you can't pay and be judged on that basis. However, you have to trust in Him and receive this gift. Unlike a credit card, His gift can’t be cut up. Unlike cash, it can never be devalued. But you can throw away the chance of a lifetime and eternity by not receiving this precious gift.

The thought that my sin has been forgiven and its debt settled for all eternity humbles me. That Jesus would love me before I loved Him and provide me with this security makes me very thankful for what I don't deserve. And yet, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to comprehend just how precious it really all is.

Romans 3:22-28 (NLT) tells us about our shortcomings and the hope we are given through Christ:

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

(Image of U.S. currency in the public domain. Found at Wikimedia Commons.)

SATURDAY'S SPIRITUAL UPLIFT

True Colors Revealed

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven . . . a time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3-4)

Autumn is an interesting time of year. It’s a time of transition. Students and teachers are returning to their classrooms. Farmers and gardeners are harvesting the last of their crops. Homeowners are preparing their houses before the cold of winter descends. However, the hallmark of autumn, in regions where four distinct seasons occur, is the way deciduous trees burst into flames of color. Orange, yellow, golden and red leaves paint the horizon with their brilliant displays.

Did you know those hues are hidden underneath the green all spring and summer? Sunlight causes the leaves to produce chlorophyll, which helps to produce food for the trees and gives the leaves their green pigment. As the days grow shorter and there’s less sun, the amount of chlorophyll in the leaves reduces. As the green recedes, the vibrant pigments of the yellow to red spectrum appear.

While we rejoice when spring comes, bringing its verdant splendor, we can’t deny how autumn trees at their peak colors can cause us to catch our breath with its brief glory. I wonder, when I am under the strain of trials, like leaves losing their chlorophyll in the fall, is beauty revealed in my character? Will the Lord find in me a vibrant faith and trust in Him? Am I willing to offer a sacrifice of praise in the difficult times and thank Him in all things?

Honestly, He doesn’t always find that. Sometimes I feel more like the brown, crumpled and dried up leaf, clinging to the branch, because all I can do is hold onto Jesus and cry out to Him for help, tell Him how I'm hurting. My prayer is that as I pour out my heart to Him, even in times of sorrow and disappointment, Jesus will use these trials to help me change and grow, that I might shine for Him like a beautiful autumn leaf, dancing in the wind, while I’m still in this world.

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. (James 1:2-4 NLT)

Leave comments or become a follower during the month of October for a chance to win a Barnes and Noble gift card.

(Above image of leaves from Wikimedia Commons by Symphony 999)