RENEW: Reconcile/Revive/Repent/Return (to) Eternity Now (via His) Every WORD
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV/emphasis added/jaj)...."Therefore, IF anyone Is In Christ, he Is A NEW Creation. The old has passed away; BEHOLD, The NEW Has Come."....
Just two days remain in 2016. As 2017 looms on our horizon, thoughts of the old being gone and the NEW coming forth start to dominate our thoughts. Tragically this is brought even more so to mind as we witness the loss and passing of iconic individuals in our collective histories, family members (as well), or lives that have touched us wether up-close and personal, or from a distance by their positive influence in this world.
It can be a definite challenge to shift our thoughts from the loss and pain to begin once more to consider God's Ultimate PLAN for RENEWal of LIFE In Him.
In fact, our Lord Jesus went through something very similar during His First Advent with us....
John 11:1-4 (ESV/emphasis added/jaj)...."Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed The Lord with ointment and wiped His Feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to Him, saying, 'Lord, he whom You Love is ill.' BUT When Jesus Heard it He Said, 'This illness Does NOT lead to death. It Is For The Glory Of God, SO That The Son Of God May Be Glorified Through It.'”....
If you are not aware of The Story of Lazarus - in a nut-shell, Lazarus' illness does cause him to stop living. Jesus, after four-days, makes it to the-now-late Lazarus' home, where Lazarus' sisters (Martha & Mary) are mourning the death of their brother. Jesus was not insensitive to their loss. In fact.....John 11:35 (ESV)...."Jesus wept."
BUT our Lord Jesus did NOT lose sight of The Bigger Picture.....
John 11:25-27, 38-44 (ESV)...."Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”.....Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”"....
Team, as we prepare to go forward from 2016 into 2017, I would Pray and Encourage us to Be Open To our Lord's Insight with regards to His Understanding and Sharing God The Father's Bigger Picture with us. I am confident, regardless of our current circumstances and scenarios, He Is In The Process of RENEWing, REVIVing, RECONCILing and Helping us to REPENT and RETURN to Him and His WAY for our LIVES.
Come Lord Jesus Come! In Your Precious Name we Lift Up our Prayers to you.....Amen and Amen....jaj
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