Spiritual Thoughts

  G enesis ends with Joseph's death. Deuteronomy ends with Moses' death. Joshua ends with Joshua's death. The Gospels end with Jesus' resurrection. And that changes everything. ~ Tony Merida I  stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the death, he woujld proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles. ~ Acts 26:22-23

  D on't be afraid of death, be afraid of the un-lived life. ~ from the movie "Tuck Everlasting"   I will not die, BUT live, and tell of the works of the LORD. ~ Psalm 118:17

  J esus will empty the tombs  and melt the winter of death. ~ Max Lucado     D eath is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? BUT thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ 1 Corinthians 15:55, 57

  F riday Tale - Death and Resurrection   As Jesus prepared the disciples for the crucifixion and resurrection, He quoted King David from Psalm 41:9-10, referring to the fulfillment of the prophecies (the betrayal by Judas Iscariot).   The lessons taught during the Last Supper would strengthen the eleven followers during the unfolding events.   Like the disciples, we tend to focus on the act of crucifixion during the days prior to that Sunday morning, BUT a close examination of Jesus' message reveals that Jesus reflected more on the glory of the resurrection and the joy to come. This is what Christ’s death and resurrection means: Christ overcoming sin in a fallen world.   Neither death on a cross nor a boulder in front of a tomb could hold back the omnipotent will of God. Christ lives in the light of resurrection, not in the darkness of crucifixion. If each of us would live our daily lives as a Christian resurrection would not our world experience a marv...

D eath is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live - if we let it die. ~ Norman Cousins   I n a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, BUT are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately they fall away. ~ Mark 4:16-17

T his is the time when God turned the  inevitability of death into the invincibility of Life.    -Craig D. Lounsbrough      W e know that Christ, being raised from the death,                  will never die again;     death no longer has dominion over him. -Romans 6:29               

Television is a device that permis people   who haven't anything to do,    to watch people who can't do anything. Unknown For to set the mind on the flesh is death,  but to set the mind on the spirit is life and peace. Romans 8:6

O ur old history ends with the cross;         our new history begins with the resurrection. .- Watchman Nee F or if we have been united with him      in a death like his,           we shall certainly be united with him                  in a resurrection like his. - Romans 6:5 (ESV) 

John 5:25, 29 “ Truly , truly , I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God , and those who hear will live . Do not marvel at this ; for an hour is coming , in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice , and will come forth ; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life , those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment .” God grants us a wonderful gift of life on this earth. During this life we have a choice to serve ourselves or to serve Him and His Son. He has given us a life full of blessings and learning, as well as an incredible creation to remind us of His presence. In his mercy God gives us opportunity each day to acknowledge Him and turn to Him. In the end we all go to the grave where there is no more thought or life (unless Christ returns during our lifetime). There we have no sense of passing time. The next moment we realize will be the resurrection and t...

You brought me up from the grave, O LORD.     You kept me from falling into the pit of death. [Psalm 30:3] On this coming Sunday, we celebrate the defeat of death. Psalm 30 gives us words to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and its implications. The images of Psalm 30 take on new meaning in light of the resurrection of Jesus. When God raised Jesus from the dead on that morning, the power of death itself was defeated. Jesus broke out of the cage that keeps us in bondage, inviting us to follow him from death into new life. Thus when we read Psalm 30, we think of Jesus and his resurrection. But we can also think of ourselves. As Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrected Jesus is the “first fruits” of the harvest. We who put our trust in him will one day be raised, even as he has been raised. We will join him in the new creation, in the resurrection of heaven and earth. So, on this Sunday, we not only look back with awe at the resurrection ...