Victory Over Death

CURRENT RADIO SERIES God's Secrets   CURRENT TV SERIES At the Cross   "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." --Romans 8:37-38 Many people wonder what the difference is between Jesus Christ and other religious leaders. Why should anyone believe that Christ is superior to Mohammed, Buddha, or some other religious figure? Someone once put the difference this way: Most religious leaders want to take living men and move them toward death, but Christ wants to take dead people and move them toward life. The difference between Christ and every other religious leader of history is rather profound!  Only Christ has conquered death and has the power to give eternal life to all who believe in Him. That’s why in a chapter in which Paul spoke of all the trials that can come our way, he used the language of victory. Only the Jesus that took demon-possessed people and turned them into Spirit-possessed people can give us eternal hope like this. And Christ is still living and working...unlike the religious leaders of history. There is no other leader from the past who is still alive, leading and loving His followers…and giving them victory over the grave. Praise God today that you are not following a dead prophet but a living Savior! And take time to share that good news with someone you know!   PRAISE GOD YOU ARE FOLLOWING A LIVING SAVIOR WHO GIVES YOU VICTORY OVER DEATH AND THE PROMISE OF ETERNAL LIFE WITH HIM!

 

Nowhere to Run

Tuesday, April 02, 2019

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Attend unto me, and hear me: I mourn in my complaint, and make a noise; Because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me. My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.”

Psalm 55:2–6

The first major battle of the American Civil War was fought near Manassas, Virginia, in July of 1861. After his home was requisitioned by the Confederate Army for use as their headquarters and shelled by Union artillery, Wilmer McLean decided to move his family somewhere safer. He relocated 150 miles further south to a small town known as Appomattox, Virginia. And it was in the parlor of his new home that Lee and Grant met years later to sign the surrender that effectively ended the Civil War.

While the notion that we could escape trouble by starting over somewhere else may be attractive, it doesn't work. Even if we had wings to fly away as David wished, we would find trouble wherever we landed. We live in a broken and fallen world, and there aren't any perfect places in it. And even if we could find such a place, our own deceitful hearts and sinful natures would guarantee that it would not long remain a perfect place.

The solution is not found in a place, but in a Person. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Rather than spending time looking for an easier place, we should seek His presence and peace.

Today's Growth Principle: 

The solution to trouble is not to find a place free from it but to run to God for comfort and help.