Tag: death

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PWTE Daily Devotion

I Am the Resurrection and the Life!

By Pastor Steve Nickodemus

He is Risen Indeed!

“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?””
John 11:25-26 English Standard Version

Just a week ago we buried the remains of my dear friend John.  When you stand at the graveside of someone you loved, your faith is tested like at no other time.  Do you really believe that John will live again?  Do you believe in eternal life?

We all want to believe that we will see loved ones again.  We all want to believe that we will be in heaven forever with those we love.  But what is that hope based upon?  Your good feelings?  Your good works?  Your deep needs?

When Jesus asked Martha, “Do you believe this (that I am the resurrection and the life)?”, he wasn’t asking her to believe her feelings.  He was asking her to believe in him.  Make no mistake about this, the reason that we believe in the resurrection and eternal life for our loved ones and for ourselves is based on one incontrovertible and absolute truth.  “He is risen, indeed!”

Because Jesus died and rose again, even if we die we shall live again.  Because God loved us so much that he sent his only Son we will live again.  Because Jesus obeyed his Father’s will you and I and John and all who trust in Jesus will live again.

This Easter, as believers in Jesus, we stand defiantly in the face of death and darkness and the devil and we proclaim, “Christ is risen!  Christ is risen, indeed!  Hallelujah!”  Amen.

“Jesus Christ is ris’n today, Alleluia!

Our triumphant  holy day, Alleluia!

Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!

Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!”

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church Colorado Springs, Colorado

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PWTE Daily Devotion

Gravity Works…

by Pastor Douglas Brauner

…but Grace Is Stronger.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

Permit me to rant.

Getting older stinks! Or, as us old farts say, “What’s so golden about the Golden Years?” I take two prescription meds to help me deal with my back pain, three heart meds two of which are related to keeping my blood pressure stable. I take medication to keep my acid reflux in check and to top it off, I take meds to help me sleep.

Then there are the regular trips to the bathroom, daily afternoon naps (not complaining), and the fact that I must work twice as hard to keep my weight in check. Every year my life looks more like this old Cottonwood tree. Gravity pulls these limbs closer to the ground from which it rose. I must admit that “gravity” is pulling closer to the dust from which I came.

“But [the Lord] said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9 English Standard Version

I’m also the happiest that I’ve been in my life. When everything would seem to be working against me, I hear the whisper of God’s grace more strongly. I see that grace in my family and especially in my wife as we spend more time together traveling and hanging out at home. I find that grace in God’s Word as I’m able to spend more time in my morning devotions because, well, I have more time to spend in the Word.

I look at this Cottonwood tree in two ways; I see it both as my approaching death and as a call to bow in humility to the wonder of God’s grace. Yes, I still deal with anxiety but getting closer to standing in the presence of the Lamb is wonderful! God’s grace is stronger than gravity.

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado

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PWTE Daily Devotion

Dry Bones

By Pastor Mark Moreno

Loss and Hope

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

This photo is of an ancient burial site in El Caño Archaeological Park, Panama. These sites are believed to date between 700 and 1000 AD. While it may seem a stark reminder of our own mortality, I believe there is more to it. In Ezekiel 37, we read,

“And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

You may do well to think that when something is dead, well, it stays dead. And yet, our God has a way of bringing life from death. I know that is hard to believe, because like you, I have lost dearly loved family and friends to the grave. I have been at funerals; I have shed tears, and I have felt that sting.

How amazing it must have been to see the valley of dry bones actually come back to life! Ezekiel tells us that it was an awesome sight and that there was a mass resurrection! The beautiful truth is that Jesus also fell into the grave, into the darkness of death.

Yet He did not remain there, for three days later He rose victoriously. Because Jesus did that, we no longer have to fear death or the grave. They no longer have the final say, because we will live even though we die.

I don’t know the last time you lost someone to the coldness of death, but I pray that you would know the truth that our God is a God of resurrection, a God of hope, and a God that puts His Word into our lives!

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado