When do the dead rise?

No resurrection of the dead?  Is this a lie?  YES, it's a LIE. There IS a resurrection of the dead. Listen to what we are told.

1Co 15:12-23  Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.   If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

There you go, the dead DO rise.

Now, we have to ask ourselves a few questions about all this.

WHEN are the dead resurrected?

We have to ask this question because most people that I personally know, believe the dead are resurrected immediately upon death. And not only that, they believe that resurrection is in the spirit form of the dead person. Then they believe that spirit form flies away to heaven to live with God and all the other spirit forms resurrected. So if most people believe in a spirit form resurrection what point is there to have a physical resurrection?  And this begs more questions still. How can a person sleep in death if they aren't even in their own bodies? They'd be a sleeping shell of nothingness, and why raise an empty husk. How could you wake up an empty husk?  And more importantly who would want to be returned to physical form after living in spirit form since they'd died?  Sleep implies what?  That you are STILL a part of the body.  Those ashes, that dust your body has returned to after decaying or cremation is still a part of the body you once were. After all, what was Adam created from? Dust, clay, dirt, he was formed out of the very thing we ultimately return to after dying.

All right now, let us consider some of the answers to these questions raised.  If I fall asleep right now you would expect me to wake up in a few hours or so. When I wake up you will expect me to be aware of the things that happened prior to my falling asleep wouldn't you?  Let's pretend I come home from shopping, put the groceries away, do a bit of housework, cook dinner, sit down to eat dinner with you, talk with you about your day, relax after cleaning up after dinner, then decide to take a nap.  When I wake up a few hours later would you expect me to know what I did before falling asleep? Would you expect me to still retain the memories of our earlier conversation about our days? Would you expect me to remember what we had for dinner?   The answers to those question are yes, yes, and yes.  You would not expect me to fall asleep and leave my body in some spirit form and fly around willy nilly.  You expect me to sleep and NOT know what you are doing while I’m sleeping.  Furthering our pretense, while I was sleeping you made a few phone calls, a next door neighbor dropped by, and you watched a television show.  Should I, who was sleeping, know that you did any of those things? No.  While I may in fact have a dream while I'm sleeping, you do NOT expect me to be awake and sleeping at the same time.

We are told specifically how the resurrection of the dead takes place, let's review--

1Co 15:20  But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Christ is risen from the dead- the FIRSTFRUIT of…..  THEM THAT SLEPT.

EVERY MAN in HIS OWN ORDER!

Christ.

The FIRSTFRUITS.

THEY THAT ARE CHRIST'S AT HIS COMING!

Exactly who were the firstfruits  that were raised after Christ…

Mat 27:50  Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

Mat 27:51  And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

Mat 27:52  And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

Mat 27:53  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Did you read that? Read it again…  many BODIES of the saints which slept (IN THE GRAVE- DEATH IS A SLEEP) arose. They came out of the GRAVES after his resurrection and WENT into the holy city and appeared unto many.

Jesus DID NOT call spirit forms out of graves or pull spirit forms of people from heaven.  Jesus raised BODIES! These newly resurrected from the dead appeared to MANY.  These were the FIRSTFRUITS resurrected from death.  The dead resurrected.

And we are told that the REST of the DEAD will NOT be raised until when?

At Christ's second coming.

And believe me, Christ will not be commanding spirits to return to bodies we have NOTHING of that in the Bible, nothing at all! We are told the dead sleep right now.  And from what we have already established of sleep, those sleeping aside from perhaps a dream, know NOTHING of what is going on with those who are still awake.  The next thing all those who are Christ's, who have died will know is being woken up by Christ Himself and rising from their graves in their body form (changed as we are told) to meet Christ in the air!

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

The dead in their corrupted bodies will be raised incorruptible!  Just as Adam was formed of the dust of the ground, those who have returned to that dust will be given back a form of incorruptible flesh as they are resurrected, as they wake up from death's sleep.

There is a wonderful comfort in believing our loved ones are sleeping in mind and body, and not flying off to heaven where they can look down upon us and see all our trials, tribulations, our heartaches, our sinning, our sufferings.  What person truly wants their dead loved ones to watch them and know how they suffer? The dead loved one is sleeping and is spared from any more suffering.  Because if you try to tell me that the dead loved one is watching me suffer and is happy about my suffering I'll tell you that you have to be crazy. And seriously, why would ANY of us want our dead loved ones to suffer any more than they had to in this world while they were alive?

Thank You, heavenly Father, thank You for the knowledge, the comprehension, the truth of Your love for us revealed in even our death.  We would sleep in Christ, we would be raised incorruptible when Christ returns, or if we are blessed to be alive at Christ's return we would be found in Him and changed to immortality as we rise to meet Him in the air!  Thank You!

In the name of our Savior, our Lord, the First Resurrected, Jesus Christ our LORD forever and ever, amen!

After the chastening...

Spiritual Fruit.

Php 1:11  Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God. 

Heb_12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Eph 5:9  (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Fruits of God's grace.

Fruits are the life we live.  Spiritual fruits are what we long to produce as those who are branches on the Vine of Christ Jesus our Lord.

These Spiritual fruits are comprised of goodness, righteousness, truth, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, faith, meekness, and temperance.

The people who possess these fruits as a result of their life with Christ are truly BLESSED.

My only hope remains in my Savior, He and He alone can help me to produce spiritual fruit, of my own I can produce none. The Spirit in me must do it, I feel so very far from bearing spiritual fruit.

Love.

Joy.

Peace.

Longsuffering.

Gentleness.

Goodness.

Faith.

Meekness.

Temperance.

I need to be chastened severely if that's what it takes for me to yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness.  Not only do I need to be chastened, I need to LEARN from that chastening experience. It does us NO good to be chastened only to revert to the very thing that caused our chastening in the first place. We are NOT exercised by the chastening if we succumb readily to our old ways. It's a fight, a fight to yield to our Savior. It's a battle to wage if we are to be God's.  Satan will NEVER stop trying to make us his, never, not for a moment. And if we are standing in our Spiritual armor given to us by the Holy Spirit, we will prevail against Satan through the GRACE of our SAVIOR. 

We would be loving!

We would be joyful!

We would be peaceful!

We would be longsuffering!

We would be gentle!

We would be good!

We would be faithful!

We would be meek!

We would be temperate!

Please, Father, we would yield the fruits of YOUR righteousness! Please live in us! Please chasten us in everyway necessary so we would learn from it and be all YOU would have us be, with You making it possible.

Joh_17:22  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one

Please, Father, please.

Through the give and mercy of our LORD Jesus Christ!

Amen.

Released from demon possession...

Luk 8:35  Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

Imagine.

A lunatic, a known lunatic...

Mar 5:2  And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,

Mar 5:3  Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:

Mar 5:4  Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.

Mar 5:5  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

This man, this lunatic, this insane, naked, crazy man after encountering Jesus - is clothed and calm- in his right mind.  Surely all the visages of his life of insanity weren't instantly erased, he was recognizable as the same crazy person who dwelled among the tombs. A man who was bound in chains by people, a man who was feared by people, a true monstrosity that many knew enough to stay away from or risk life and limb. A man whose crying night and day, whose cutting of his own flesh with stones, a man in mental and emotional, as well as physical, agony and yet helpless to change.   No others could change him, and he certainly couldn't change himself.

Now we need to IMAGINE this REALITY,  not as some fabled monster story told to scare people, not some fantasy tale meant to incite mystery and excitement. We need to comprehend that Jesus rid the man of DEMONS, demons possessing him, controlling him, abusing him. Why was that man filled with demons? I have no clue. But we do know he was and people tried their best to get him under control over the years without any success. The man possessed strength beyond human ability, the demons in him able to break chains.  The man was FREED of this possession and instantly calm. He was still recognizable to the people but he'd been changed severely.

What did it mean to have a MAN who could release another man from demon possession? Yes, the Jewish people knew about exorcising demons, they had exorcists, they comprehended demon possession. Yet here comes a man, an ordinary man who had no intense learning in the temple, he wasn't a man of priestly lineage.  He wasn't a scribe, he wasn't a priest as the Jewish people- His people- knew the priests to be, yet he was casting our demons!  He had POWER, power that only those of God were supposed to have. His power was extraordinary beyond anything that  anyone had ever seen. They hadn't seen it before but they knew the stories, the true stories of their historical ancestors, men and women of God that had walked with God in His power performing powerful acts by His grace. They had historical figures to believe in but here and now there was a man of God unlike any before and he was working miracles such as they never imagined possible. 

Do WE believe in a miracle working God? Is Jesus just a historical figure we look to in the past without expecting anything more? Our Savior came with a message, the message of salvation, of eternal life. Our Savior want s us to live in Him and let Him live in us, working through us by the Holy Spirit as a REALITY, not some unrealistic fantasy. God wants us to produce fruit and the only way to do that is by living in Him, really, living in Him.

Please Father! We would live in YOU and YOU in us! Please Father! Please bear fruit through us!  Help us to know You as a reality, to know Your power as a reality!

Please.  All by the grace and mercy of our Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ, now and forever.

Amen.

The Vine

Can we continue our existence without our Savior?

The answer is… yes, BUT only if you choose to want to exist without Him and only desire to live whatever few days you have until the Lord returns, or you enter the long sleep which will only end in your permanent death, and ultimately your non-existence.

The world is FULL of people who choose to deny Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You wouldn't have to go far in a poll of the people living around you to find one who will say and believe that Jesus Christ is nothing. Either He's a fabricated lie for the weak to grasp, a fable made up by men to control people, He's an ordinary man that was very charismatic,  He was a prophet, but no Son of God, and the list goes on.  Full, the world is FULL of people believing this way.  

When we realize that we are NOT forced to believe in Jesus Christ, but can choose to do so, we are taking a stand for something a lot of people reject.  Don't get me wrong, a lot of people also do believe but more do not, than do. Billions may claim belief, but billions more will deny.

Choosing to believe isn't enough though, because Jesus is going to say to MANY when He returns to bring those who are His home with Him,  that HE DOES NOT KNOW THEM. 

Shocking? It should be! You choose to make a stand and believe in Jesus Christ only to find out He doesn't know you and you are not going to heaven where He's prepared a place for those who are His. 

How can we know- He knows us?

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

We have to LIVE IN CHRIST. LIVE IN CHRIST! 

Every breath we take must belong to Him. Every thought we think must belong to Him. There is NOTHING in our lives we can hide from our Savior, not a single thing and we mustn't even try to hide anything!  And when we realize that we don't set Jesus aside and pick Him up when we pray, or worship for an hour or two, we know that He is everything!  How can He know anyone who chooses to believe in Him and love Him at their own convenience?

Can a single branch come into existence without a vine?  People will say that a branch can be broken off a vine and still live and thrive, only to grow into a vine all it's own and that's true, however a branch needs to EXIST first to be broken off.

With JESUS being our vine and we being the branches upon the vine we are safest abiding in HIM. We dare not risk being lopped off and grafted back on, because NO branch grown on it's own after being broken from the vine will ever be a part of the vine again easily, if ever.  This analogy can be taken in many different directions but what our Savior is telling us is that we have to LIVE in HIM if we will bear any fruit. WITHOUT our SAVIOR WE CAN DO NOTHING that truly matters. If we are not bringing glory to God but to ourselves or others, it's empty, it's void of real meaning no matter how it appears on the outside.

All the humanitarian efforts by any one, done outside of Christ are facades even if they appear to be marvelous.  Those who deny God and yet seem to be the kindest, best, big-hearted people are mere puppets of Satan to deceive, to steal eternity.  And my just saying this could have many outraged because to them it proves God is not a God of love when He doesn't accept all without exception no matter who they believe in or if they believe in anyone.  The thing is, God will accept those who have FAITH in HIM, but how can He force Himself on those who have no faith and desire no faith in Him?  He will force NO ONE!

We can be a branch on the Vine, we can abide in the Vine and produce fruit, fruit the Vine allows us to produce.  Fruit ONLY survives on the vine. If you take the fruit off the vine before it is fully fruit, if you pluck the flower that will turn into the fruit, it will never be fruit.  We must remain upon the Vine that is Christ and live in HIM in all things so we through HIM will produce what He needs us to produce for Him.

Please, Father, please bless us in YOU. Help us to be branches upon the Vine that is Christ and through the Spirit produce the fruit You desire.

Bless us, keep us, forgive us, love us, know us!

All through Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior!

Amen.

What little flesh works are controlling you?

Gal 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

Gal 5:20  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,

Gal 5:21  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Works of the flesh.

Works of the Spirit.

We know, come on, we're not dense, we're really not.

We know when the works of the flesh are working in us.

In the days of Noah, all but Noah were living in the works of the flesh. In Sodom and Gomorrah all were living in the works of the flesh, God could not even find ten people living in the Spirit.  And we know that in the last days God will be hard pressed to find any living in the Spirit as well.  Knowing this shouldn't we be more aware of where our flesh works are active in our lives?  Satan will tempt us with the lusts of the flesh all the time. Even something as simple as irritation has it's roots in Satan. Of course satan doesn't want us recognize the tiny works of the flesh. He loves as those tiny very deceptive works of the flesh rear up and become common place in our lives. We let them. Why do we let them? We let them because we've been taught to believe they are just part of normal, every day, acceptable life, things we can't help and shouldn't even try to change. We are going to be irritated end of story so stop fussing over irritation and just call it part of life. Satan then gets the stain of that irritation to remain upon us because we fail to call it the sin that it is and repent of it, asking for forgiveness.

Sure, most Christians will agree adultery, fornication, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, and murders are wrong and works of the flesh, but do most agree strife, envying, drunkenness, reveling and the like are works of the flesh? We call strife in our lives stressful but label it normal. We call envying normal as well because everyone falls victim to wanting more and better, nicer, and when they don't have it and see others with it, they envy them wishing they had it as well.

We excuse sin and therefore it remains.  We can't afford to believe sin is just our normal acceptable life, forgetting that Satan is egging us on to sin every single day of our lives. If Satan can push a button to even irritate us in the tiniest way, he is pleased. 

God forgive us for calling sin good, forgive us for excusing the sin in our lives!

Please help us to recognize ALL the sin in our lives. Help us to recognize the works of the flesh for what they are even the tiniest of flesh works that we have grown so incredibly used to in our lives they've become what we've labeled our personalities.  I'm not saying that we don't have various defects in our personalities that go beyond our encouraging.  What I mean is, I've seen tiny  babies with tempers, young toddlers with flares of unjustified anger, and this isn't LEARNED behavior for them, they have been born with this anger, this work of the flesh is a part of them and it only seems to grow with them. Age will help them handle their anger if they have loving parents guiding them, and they will prayerfully grow into young adults that have given their lives to Christ and allow Him to live in them through the Spirit.  We are born with our flesh nature striving to take over. God will guide us if we let Him. That anger WE are born with, that tendency to be selfish, the callousness we've developed, the unloving heart, the jealousy we've embraced can be given to our SAVIOR, and given to Him over and over and over again all the time as we are shown all those flesh works in ourselves.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

Gal 5:25  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

Gal 5:26  Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Do we have these fruits of the Spirit within us?

Are we loving, joyous, peaceful, long suffering, gentle, good, faithful, meek, temperate?

Do we crucify our FLESH?

Do we crucify our AFFECTIONS and LUSTS?

WE must live in the Spirit- WALKING IN THE SPIRIT.

We truly must not long for glory that is in vain, and all glory that is NOT of God, is in vain. We must not provoke one another, we must not envy one another, please LORD, please bless us and keep us in the Spirit, only by YOUR grace, YOUR love, please! Help us, we would be YOURS and only YOURS.

All in YOUR LOVE!

By our Savior, Jesus Christ, our LORD now and forever!

Amen. 

Jesus Christ our Savior, Rich?

2Co 8:9  For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

The LORD JESUS CHRIST- rich?

He was a carpenter's son and not rich at all, right? He didn't live in glorious splendor.

Mat 13:54  And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?

Mat 13:55  Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

Mat 13:56  And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

The carpenter's son, mother called Mary- nothing remarkable in these things, nothing at all. And His brothers, those He grew up with, played with, ate with, worked with, four of them just all average in a family and also, his sisters.  Jesus had a normal average, unremarkable family.  These people in His hometown did not remark upon the wealthy Jesus, from the wealthy and wise family of Joseph and Mary. They did not remark upon the prominence of Jesus' lineage because it was NOT remarkable. There was nothing to indicate at all whatsoever that Jesus was raised wealthy and inherited any sort of wealth.  So when we read that Christ was rich, we're not talking about worldly wealth at all whatsoever, we are talking about spiritual wealth. In Spiritual wealth our Savior was the richest of all.

Jesus - declared SON OF GOD, Jesus GOD WITH GOD, Jesus CREATOR as God with God, He could be no richer than He was spiritually, not a bit.  Yet even though He was the richest in spiritual wealth, richest in all things as Creator of all things, for US He BECAME POOR. 

He divested Himself of divinity, make NO mistake He shed His God power when He took on flesh and He, like all of us, had to  rely upon God the declared FATHER.

Heb 2:16  For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Heb 2:17  Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

This is TRUTH!

Joh_8:28  Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.

Joh 5:19  Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

The Son can do NOTHING of himself.

Jesus was being taught by the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus was brought into existence in the flesh by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit descended upon Him upon His baptism and it was only after that He began to preach and do His miracles, miracles done through the power He had only through the Father- just like us. We have to have power outside of ourselves. We have to be selfless taking NO glory to ourselves at all, but giving all glory to God.

Jesus became poor for us, so we could be rich through HIM.

Jesus made it possible for us to have eternal life and that life starts upon earth as we accept Him, not after we die.  If we are called to sleep death's temporary sleep it won't affect the fact we've gain life eternal in Christ. We will wake to rise and meet Him in the air when He returns calling both the dead in Him and the living in Him to rise and go to heaven with Him.

Eternal life in Christ and Christ alone, He who became poor for us to be rich, spiritually rich, the only true riches that matter in the things of eternity.

Please, Father, please by Your glory and honor, through Your power may we live in You, for You, spiritually living as You would have us live from now till we see our Savior again and forever, ever, and ever without end. Forgive us unworthy sinners, we seek the forgiveness of the Savior who died so we might live, who became poor so we could be rich in Him. Bless us, Father. In the name of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Build us up

Act 20:32  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

The word of HIS GRACE- is able to BUILD us up!

BUILD.

What does it mean to build?  When you're building you are creating something aren't you?  If I build my strength I'm creating more muscle mass. If I build a house, I'm creating a structure. If I build character I'm creating better personality traits in myself. To build means to create and when we are being built up as the Word of God tells us- our spiritual life is growing, it's becoming something more than it was.  The word of God's grace can cause us to grow, it will BUILD us up, it will give us an INHERITANCE as we are made holy, sanctified.  We MUST, absolutely MUST study the word of God and His grace! We must constantly dwell upon the grace of our Savior realizing it is only through a constant study, a constant prayer that we are built up in Christ. It does us no good to accept Christ as our Savior and then go on to live our lives oblivious to Him, He must be a real presence in our lives, in all we do.

All by HIS amazing grace!

In Jesus Christ always!

Amen!