NO BIBLE NO BREAKFAST DAILY BIBLE REFLECTIONS AND MORE

SCRIPTURE READINGS
JEREMIAH 17:5-10
1 CORINTHIANS 5:12-20
LUKE 6:17-26

REFLECTION

The meaning of Jesus’ resurrection is the theme for our reflection. Resurrection is the belief that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead on the third day after his Crucifixion and that through his conquering of death, all believers will subsequently share in his victory over sin, death, and Satan. We reflect on two meanings of the Resurrection,
1. The resurrection of Jesus gives us the reason to trust God and proclaim our faith.
2. The resurrection of Jesus gives us the assurance to live a heaven-conscious life that comes with a reward.

Firstly, without the resurrection of Christ, we have no reason to trust God and proclaim our faith. The resurrection gives meaning to our trust in God and the willingness to proclaim our faith to the world. It is for this reason Paul wrote, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. (1 Corinthians 15:14-15) In other words, our faith is complete because of the resurrection power of Christ. He is worth our trust and confidence. My friend in Christ, we are blessed to experience the resurrection power of Jesus in our lives and can bold say with Jeremiah when he wrote, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8) Our trust in the Lord is the source of our blessings and our confidence in His resurrection is the source of our power. We do not worship a dead God but a living God who proved His power through the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. With this assurance, we must remain unshakable in faith and pray fervently for the restoration of any dead situation in our lives. Because our resurrected Christ lives forever, He is always with us and we shall overcome the storms and challenges that threaten our faith and existence. The resurrection of Christ is the source of boldness, no matter the situation, we shall declare with the Psalmist “I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. (Psalms 118:17)

Secondly, the resurrection of Jesus assures us to live a heaven-conscious life that comes with a reward. After the resurrection, Jesus ascended to Heaven to prepare a place for those who will have faith in Him and accept Him as Lord and Saviour. It is based on the power of His resurrection that Jesus assured us “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. (Luke 6:23)  This reward is the gift of eternal life as stated in John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Dear friend let us endure the suffering and persecution on account of the resurrected Christ for our reward is the gift of eternal life. Let us continue to live a heaven-conscious life that is pleasing to God irrespective of the pain, frustration and other life-threatening experiences that come with it. We are greatly emboldened by Paul’s encouraging words when he wrote “… our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18) Our suffering on account of the resurrected and ever-living Jesus shall never be in vain.

In summary, we have discovered that Jesus’s resurrection gives us reason to trust God and proclaim our faith. Again, it gives us the assurance to live a heaven-conscious life that comes with a reward. May the Holy Spirit strengthen us to continually experience the resurrection power of our Lord and Saviour Jesus. Amen.