Ask and you will receive! What God has promised, he is able to perform!
| Monday, April 12, 2004 Monday in the Octave of Easter |
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The following is, as usual, from The Word Among Us:
"Christ is risen! Do not be afraid. You will see him." The angel's words must have had a staggering effect on the women who had come to Jesus' tomb. Think how disillusioned they would have been after Jesus' crucifixion. He had given them great hope and inspired them to expect God to act in dramatic ways. But then he suffered a miserable, humiliating death. How bewildered and afraid these women must have been! True, Jesus did promise that he would rise again, but the idea was just too big for any of them to comprehend.
What could have been more astonishing for the women than to discover that Jesus truly had risen, exactly as he promised? God proved that what he promises, he fulfills. Rather than a being cause for apprehension or fear, his word is always the basis for confident faith and hope.
Two thousand years later, we too face challenges to faith. Jesus has already risen and poured out his Spirit. We have become God's sons and daughters. Yet these realities can seem too big for us to believe. The world advises us to set our sights on lesser, more mundane realities: to seek security wherever possible, and however temporary, in the midst of life's uncertainties.
We can choose to stand with the women. We can be empowered by God's word as they were. His promises are real and can provide us great assurance. We can put our faith in the marvelous thing that God has done--the resurrection of his Son. He has promised to draw all people to himself (John 12:32) and to give his Spirit to all those who ask (Luke 11:9,13). Do you feel far from God today? Do you have a pressing need? Ask and you will receive! What God has promised, he is able to perform!
"Father, you have raised Jesus your Son from death to life. Praise to you! You have the power to fulfill all your promises. In you, Lord, all things are possible."
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God bless.
AC
