How strong is your faith that the Holy Spirit will raise your body from the dead on the last day? (Rm 8:11) Do you believe your spirit will be raised at your death to meet the Lord and go to heaven? Do you believe Jesus still raises people from the dead, as He raised Lazarus from the dead? (Jn 11:44; Mt 10:8) Do you believe Jesus' resurrection can transform your life now?
Jesus' resurrection is a promise of the resurrection of the bodies and spirits of all His disciples. Jesus continues to raise Lazaruses as proofs of His resurrection and previews of ours. Jesus' past resurrection and our future resurrection should overshadow our present circumstances. Risen life begins when we believe in the risen Lord, not when we die. All the resurrections go together. The resurrection is past, present, and future. The resurrection is physical and spiritual. The resurrection is historical, personal, and eschatological.
We are a resurrection people, or more precisely a resurrections-people. In these next two weeks, prepare to celebrate the resurrection with a faith and joy that is unexplainable except for those who have met the risen Christ.
| PRAYER: | Father, increase my faith in Your risen Son so that I become a new person. |
| PROMISE: | "I will open your graves and have you rise from them." –Ez 37:12 |
| PRAISE: | Praise Jesus, Who by rising is restoring families, marriages, cities, nations, and individual lives. Praise Jesus, "the Resurrection and the Life" (Jn 11:25). |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College