Last week we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus. We discussed how because He has risen, one day we too will rise.
“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.…” –1 Thessalonians 4:16
“Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.” –Micah 7:8
John Piper has a wonderful devotional on this passage in Micah you can read by clicking here!
This is the context of the above verse in Micah: “But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, And I will see His righteousness.…” –Micah 7:7-9 (NLT)
I bring up the context of that verse because it says in verse 8 that “I will rise”. But verse 9 gives an explanation of how we can rise. “Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.” We have all sinned against him, so how can we deserve justice? We can’t in and of ourselves, but as we learned last week through the series of devotions on the death and resurrection of Christ, He took our place on the cross and paid the debt WE owed to reunite us with the Father. HE executed justice on our behalf for sin that entered the world at the fall in the garden of Eden when Satan, as the serpent, tempted Adam and Eve and they gave in to sin and we inherited the sin nature brought into the world back then. Jesus pleads our case to the Father as our high priest who already received judgment on Himself for us so we can, because of Him, rise again!
If you have not received this gift (because as with any gift, it’s never yours till you reach out and receive it), click here to read more about how you can do so. It’s the only way you can claim eternal life and the ability to rise again. Literally!
You’ve already received Christ as your Lord and Savior? Great! So have I, so we need to hold fast to the truth that one day we WILL LITERALLY rise again.
“Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.…” –1 Corinthians 15:51-53
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. “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.” –John 5:24-25
So that’s fantastic news and it gives us peace to know that one day we will rise again. But what about in the meantime? Can we receive help to rise again over the circumstances of our day?
I’ve been going through a real struggle in my life with big changes that are hard to adapt to. I don’t know how I could contend with all of this without God’s help. He’s given me precious promises to hold to knowing that this life is not all there is. It’s a training ground, if you will, to prepare us to be what we need for eternity. This is a dress rehearsal for the real thing!
This devotional I’m sending you now explains it wonderfully and I’ll direct you there to finish the Mindful Monday for this week. It has really ministered to me and I’ve really really needed it this past week! (Thank You, Lord!)
“Often we spin our wheels, because we are trying to accomplish great things for the Lord without even listening to His Holy Spirit. We live a fulfilling life only as we allow God’s Holy Spirit to lead us, and then as we do ONLY those things which He directs us to do. Henry Blackabe in Experiencing God puts it this way, “Find out what God is doing, and then join Him.”
Several years ago, I heard one man ask his friend, “How are you today?”
His friend responded, “Well, I’m not very good, under the circumstances.”
The man replied, “Well, what are you doing under there?”If you want to be discouraged, look at your past. If you want to be stressed, look ahead. If you want to be content, look with God’s eternal perspective at the present moment. This is what we call “walking in the Spirit,” “walking in the here and now,” and “being present in the moment.” We really can learn not to worry about tomorrow (Luke 12:22), but to fully enjoy the moment, which God gives us to serve Him. ”
Click here to read the rest of the devotional on “Rising Above Circumstances”. I’m going to bookmark it too! 🙂
I leave you with a bonus video that really speaks to me. I can rise above my circumstances not because of who I am or because of what I’ve done, but ONLY because of WHOSE I am!
