This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 1 John 5:11.
The resurrection of Jesus was a sample of the final resurrection of all who sleep in Him.
He [the Christian] may die; but the life of Christ is in him, and at the resurrection of the just he will rise to newness of life.
“In him [Christ] was life; and the life was the light of men.” It is not physical life that is here specified, but immortality, the life which is exclusively the property of God. The Word, who was with God, and who was God, had this life. Physical life is something which each individual receives. It is not eternal or immortal; for God, the Life-giver, takes it again. Man has no control over his life. But the life of Christ was unborrowed. No one can take this life from Him. “I lay it down of myself,” He said. In Him was life, original, unborrowed, underived. This life is not inherent in man. He can possess it only through Christ.
While bearing human nature, He [Christ] was dependent upon the Omnipotent for His life. In His humanity, He laid hold of the divinity of God; and this every member of the human family has the privilege of doing. . . .
If we repent of our transgression, and receive Christ as the Life-giver, . . . we become one with Him, and our will is brought into harmony with the divine will. We become partakers of the life of Christ, which is eternal. We derive immortality from God by receiving the life of Christ, for in Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This life is the mystical union and cooperation of the divine with the human.
Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become one spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that we are to come forth from the grave–not merely as a manifestation of the power of Christ, but because, through faith, His life has become ours. Those who see Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the heart, have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal.
Maranatha p. 302
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Prayer Requests
—–My prayer partner in Wash. lives just outside of Spokane. She said her area is covered with smoke she can’t open her windows, and the smoke has gotten into her garage and home. She said her lungs hurt from the smoke. She is 72. She packed her car in case of evacuation. She said it is a little clearer today than it was yesterday. Some church members are in the path of the fire. She asked for prayer for them. They are on alert too. Mary
—–Please pray that God will rebuke the devil, lead and guide us, and supply all of our needs. L
—–We are in the very same situation Mary. Evac. Orders came Thursday evening as the fire was 12 miles away and moving 4 miles in 30 minutes. We packed a lot of books and got ready to leave. No room for personals in the vehicles. Then the wind shifted and drove the fire backward. But last night they had a flair up on our side of highway 20 again and are fighting to contain it. Smoke is so bad we cannot see fifty feet. No way we can get all the printing equipment out of here so we are continuing to pray. M.
—–Continuing to need prayers for our family and dear ones. God has promised…Nicole
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Dear Friends
When we lived in North Carolina, we lived near a lake. It was about a fourth mile to where we could swim. From May through October, we swam almost every day. Baden Lake was a large man-made lake with many narrow places. The place where we swam was one of those narrow inlets. Even though it gave the appearance of being a short way across, it was really farther than any but the most experienced swimmer could cross.
Every year someone would daringly attempt to cross it and drown. They had much confidence in their ability to swim well. They did not take into consideration that others had perished trying the same feat. That would be the last thing they ever did.
How often we think too much of ourselves. How often we rely upon our own perceived abilities. How often we fail miserably. God’s Word says, “have no confidence in the flesh.” Phil 3:3 It reminds us that we should not “think of (ourselves)more highly than (we)ought to think” Rom. 12:3 for “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God.” James 4:6 “For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.” Prov. 3:26
Jesus gave a parable that illustrates this very point. “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” Luke 18:9-14
Let us say as did Job, Thou art my confidence” Job 31:24 Let us pray for the eyesalve of discernment that we may see all things clearly. Let our confidence be in the Lord Jesus Christ “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” 1 Tim 2:14
Rose