May God give us more and more understanding about what took place on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday around 2,000 years ago. His plan to save us was fulfilled at great cost, and the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection stands as the most important event of all time.
Now we can live resurrected lives by the power of the Holy Spirit until Jesus returns in glory. May we never lose sight that this is God’s ongoing plan. May the children of God live boldly as the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and the ambassadors of Christ in a confused and dangerous world. Jesus says there is a cost to follow Him… but it is totally worth it.
I won’t write next week during our Spring Break as I’ll spend several days in the hospital. We’ve tried three strategies to help my blood counts rebound, but nothing has worked. I’ve received blood or platelet infusions nearly every week for two years and the doctors believe this is unsustainable. So here’s the plan:
I’ll be admitted to the hospital Tuesday for a surgery to remove my spleen on Wednesday. It is likely that my spleen has been gobbling up my blood cells… at least that’s the way I understand it. Susan and I have a peace about it all and we would appreciate you praying for God’s will to be accomplished.
I hope to be home by the end of the week… without an organ I don’t know too much about. We thank God for his faithfulness and for the Body of Christ.
Happy Easter!
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you.” Romans 8:9-11
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subject to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.” Romans 8:18-24
“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms…” Ephesians 1:18-20