The Sword of the LORD

At a certain point in Jesus’ earthly ministry, He began to show His disciples the truth concerning His Passion.  He told them plainly that He was to suffer at the hands of the elders and chief priests, and that He would be killed by them; but, after three days, He would be raised from the dead.  This was, indeed, a difficult concept to comprehend.  It was hard to wrap one’s mind around.  After all, Jesus was the mighty Son of God, the promised Messiah, and the Prince of Peace.  How could they kill Him?  Hadn’t He come to establish God’s heavenly Kingdom on earth and reign forever?   Peter was especially affected by this revelation, and, acting as a friend and one who loved Jesus, he began to rebuke his Lord saying, “Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee.” (Matthew 16:22). I’m sure that Peter’s whole intent was to comfort His Lord, and encourage Him that He would overcome these difficulties, and go on to be the King of Israel – was this not prophesied?  Jesus’ reac

"I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.  And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him" (Luke 15:18-20).   During my daily quiet time with the Lord this week, I was struck by the enormous love of our Father God for us His children.  While the prodigal son in this parable was still a considerable distance from home, the father spotted him as he was making his way back to his father's house.  It was not by coincidence that his father saw him; his father had watched for him since the time that he had left, waiting hopefully for his son's return.  Then, when the father saw his son, there was no hesitancy and no second guessing of what his response should be: he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" (John 11:25, 26).  Jesus spoke these words to Martha before He raised her brother Lazarus from the dead.  His words reveal two profound truths: that Jesus is the resurrection , and that He also is the life .  These two truths are very closely related, and are easily confused as the same thing.  They are both products of the Spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus, and are both dependent on faith in order to be effective, but in application they are quite different.  The one can be described as passing from death to a new life, while the other could be described as staying alive.    Jesus says of resurrection, "... he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live ."  Faith in Jesus is the means by which we achieve resurrection.  Nothing we can do

I love the Spring.  I love watching Earth’s renewal taking place all around me. Everywhere I look I see the swelling buds and green things pushing up through the ground and I’m reminded of God’s resurrection life.  Fall speaks to me of the need for death before there can be life, Winter reminds me of the blood of Jesus that washes white as snow, and Summer comes along with its slow, deliberate growth and maturity; but Spring is all about resurrection and new beginnings.   I never cease to be amazed at how much spiritual knowledge we gain just by observing nature.  It should be no great surprise considering that every creation is an expression of the Creator and reveals something about Him.  As we look at the world around us, we can perceive great mysteries about the God of the universe if we just have the eyes to see and the ears to hear.   I get the itch this time of year to work up the ground in my little garden plot, sow the seeds, and set the young plants that will provide