For thought and meditation

[rl69]

From then on Jesus began to tell His disciples plainly that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem, and that He would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day He would be raised from the dead. —Matthew 16:21 I heard about a guy who traveled cross country. After landing at the airport, he went to the luggage carousel and retrieved his bags. Then he hailed a cab and climbed in the back. After cruising along for a few moments, he had a question for the cabbie, so he tapped the guy on the shoulder. The cab driver freaked out, shrieked, and swerved across four lanes. After catching his breath, the guy in the back seat asked the cab driver, “What was that all about?” The cab driver said, “Sir, I am sorry. I have been driving a hearse for forty years. This is my first day as a cabbie.” When you are driving a hearse, you don’t expect to get tapped on the shoulder. And when someone dies, we don’t expect them to be alive again. Jesus warned His disciples that that He would die. He also promised that He would rise again from the dead. In Matthew 16:21, we read that “Jesus began to tell His disciples plainly that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem, and that He would suffer many terrible things at the hands of the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but on the third day He would be raised from the dead.” Could He have been any more specific? And yet, this was lost on the disciples. They collectively missed the memo. But three days after Jesus was crucified, He rose as He said He would. Here is what we need to remember: God always keeps His promises. If God says something is going to happen, it will happen. God told us His Son would come to this earth. That happened. God told us His Son would be crucified. That happened. God told us His Son would be raised again from the dead. That happened. And God has told us His Son will come back again to this earth. That will happen. It will happen very soon, quite possibly. What other promises has God made to you in the pages of Scripture? Think about them today, and know with confidence that He will keep them.

[square butte]

Thanks for the good lesson this morning rl69

[USMC87]

Amen for a great lesson.

[smoked turkey]

Good thought for today. Praise the Lord. He had risen indeed!

[Blackwater]

Another great one, RL! The thing that jumps out at me in this is that the disciples heard, but didn't want to think about what He was saying to them so .... they just didn't, and didn't remember it. Then, as they cowered in the upper room behind a locked door, Christ appeared to them, and .... suddenly, they remembered what He'd told and promised them. I think this is typical of all of us. We hear, but don't heed or remember unless it suits our desires. But whether we hear or heed or remember or not, God is always steadfast, and ALWAYS keeps His word to us. We confuse ourselves so often and so thoroughly with our desires, trying to fit them into our "logic," that the mix of emotions in our logical faculties just tends to throw us off track, and confuse us. It's not very "human" to keep our emotions and our intellect separate, and I don't believe any of us does it well or always, but we can do a lot better than we typically do, I think, if we're diligent in the effort. Once we truly, deeply understand that all that He told us IS really True, that helps, but .... I doubt that we'll ever quit being quite "human" while we're still living on this plane of existence. Sure makes me wonder just how wonderful Heaven will truly be when we get there. I doubt we have the ability to conceive of it, but .... it's not human to not at least try, is it?

The wonders and awe of God are unending, and greater than our mere mortal minds can conceive. But at least He's given us some wonderful indications of what it'll be like, that our mortal minds CAN conceive of. What a wonderful God we serve!

[buckwheatpaul]

I love my daily devotional .... thanks rl69 for the dedication....Paul