"and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His great might that He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come." Ephesians 1:19-21
Yesterday we celebrated Resurrection Sunday, honoring our Lord for His tremendous sacrifice to save us from our sins, and the indescribable power He displayed in rising from the cold, dark slab in the tomb to the glorious warmth of Heavenly light!
Today, more than ever, we need to grab hold of this power! This same power strengthens believers and gives them victory over fear and despondency.
Satan's mission is to weaken the Church, and in many ways he is doing exactly that. More and more I hear of churches that have stopped preaching the full gospel in order to keep from offending people. Don't preach about sin or hell. Only talk about God's love.
Yes! God loves us! The Bible tells us He IS love. He loves the world so much that He gave His son as a sacrifice on a wretched cross to save every person that believes in Him. (John 3:16)
Why did Jesus die on a cross? To save us from hell. Without the cross, there is no forgiveness of sins. And let's be clear. The Bible assures us that we are all sinners. Isaiah 53:6 tells us:
"All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."
Furthermore, we learn from Romans 6:23 that there is a penalty for sin:
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Let's be done with weak Christianity, having a form of godliness, but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5). Let's live in the power of the resurrection. That same power is what we have in Christ, if we have confessed our sins, turned from them, and followed after Jesus, the Holy One of Israel.
It is this same power that will help us stand when others fall away.
It is this same power that will cause us to live in hope, instead of fear.
It is this same power that will embolden us to proclaim the truth of the Gospel of Christ, and say along with the Apostle Paul, "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." (1 Timothy 1;15)
Today's music video Because He Lives (Live at Sing 2021) with Keith Getty, Bill Gaither and Buddy Greene, is a testimony to the power of the resurrection of Christ. It's one of my favorite songs.
I love you, I'm thinking of you, and I'm praying for you.
"Let's be done with weak Christianity, having a form of godliness, but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5)"
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Praise the Lord! He has risen. He died for us, and we live because of Him. I agree wholeheartedly that there is too much watered down gospel out there. Life has never been promised to be easy because we are Christians either. I fear there will be a falling away in the near future as persecution here in the USA becomes even more common place. Very sad, but we were told this would happen. How I look forward to His glorious appearing to take us all home.
ReplyDeleteMany blessings to you my friend.
Betsy
"More and more I hear of churches that have stopped preaching the full gospel in order to keep from offending people. Don't preach about sin or hell. Only talk about God's love."
ReplyDeleteImagine how offended people will be when they stand before the Father and tell Him they did not know sin mattered. But the Bible says no one will have an excuse. I think we know deep inside, each human, what is wrong and right.
We need to be students of the Word of God and the Truth it proclaims. Quoting our pastor from his Easter sermon, "The Bible is a living Book about a living Savior". Thank you again for this encouragement. So thankful we serve a risen Savior who is powerful to save.
ReplyDeleteSuch inspiring music. Beautiful. Hope your Easter was nice. Hugs. Kris
ReplyDeleteBecause He lives! One of the most powerful Resurrection songs of our time! Always beautifully shared Nancy, your devotion is powerfully true today! We cannot share the hope of the gospel without the terrible reality of sin, and any "watered down" version is offensive to the cross. Thank you for sharing this truth! Blessings to youndear friend!
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter, Nancy!
ReplyDeleteNancy, I was just wondering if, along with your YouTube channel, you might have a blog and was delighted to find it! I will definitely follow along! This is a beautiful devotion, reminding us of how much we have to be thankful for while continuing our journey in this crazy world. I'm personally thankful to belong to a gospel-preaching church where nothing is whitewashed, and weekly the gospel is preached loud and clear. It is something I truly look forward to and need. The song you included here...I mean this sincerely, I woke up early this morning with this song playing in my mind! I love it too...the words are so true, that life is worth the living just because He lives! God is so good!! I'm going to catch up on reading other posts here!
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