A Belief Stronger Than Death
Imagine: Your brother has been dead for four days. The grief is so overwhelming that every part of you feels numb. Your tears have run dry, but the pain is far from gone.
Then, Jesus—your friend, the one thought to be the prophesied Messiah, the Savior of the world, the one who’s been doing astonishing miracles—shows up. Only … He wasn’t there to stop your brother from dying in the first place.
But then He does something that’s completely unexpected: He tells your dead-for-four-days brother to come out of his grave … and your brother listens. Lazarus walks out—alive.
Jesus knew that the raising of Lazarus was merely a foretaste of what was still to come. He’d eventually conquer death—for good. In the end, the grave would not have the final say. Those who believe in Him will never truly die, but go from this broken world to something much better.
That’s why the same words Jesus spoke to Lazarus’ sister, Martha, just before Lazarus’ miraculous moment are the same words Jesus would speak to you…
“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:25-26 NLT
Martha probably had a billion questions and possibly just as many doubts. But she had been with Jesus, she had seen His power, and she couldn’t deny His love. And that’s why Martha responded with:
“‘Yes, Lord,’ … ‘I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.’”
John 11:27 NLT
Though our earthly bodies will die, God has more in store than we can dare to fathom.
Do you believe this?
Let us echo Martha’s heart—to believe that the Lord is exactly who He says He is. Let’s trust God with more than what our eyes can see. Let’s have the faith to follow Him to the end.
The Mission of God
All of our lives are spent on something.
Most people spend their days focused on growing a family, building a career, or amassing possessions. While none of those things are necessarily wrong, they can become distractions from our ultimate goal in life.
In the book of Acts, we see Paul’s transformation in Christ. As a result of meeting Jesus and being changed by His grace, Paul spends the rest of his life preaching the good news of Jesus.
For Paul, God’s grace and salvation were so great that nothing on this earth could compare to doing His work.
Paul said that nothing in his life mattered as much as telling others about God’s grace. His goal in life was to finish his own race well by faithfully accomplishing as much of the mission of God as possible:
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."
Acts 20:24 NIV
The mission of ...