Happy New Year!!

The Resurrection and the Life!!

The verse the Lord has given me for the New Year is John 11:25 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” There are several elements to this verse that draw me in as I write this little commentary:

I am the resurrection and the life­­­ – What is the one word that gives potency to the word “resurrection”? Is it not the word “death”? If there were no death then there would be no need for resurrection power. And so, simple as it sounds, you must have been alive once then have experienced some form of death (either literal or metaphoric) in order for the word resurrection to have any application whatsoever. But for those who have experienced a death, of one kind or another, can there be any word more important than resurrection? Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life”; therefore, anyone who has an expectation of experiencing some form of resurrection must be close enough to Him to draw it from Him; even as the woman with the issue of blood drew healing virtue from the hem of His garment.

Now, I wish to make it clear that there are several kinds of death; there is, of course, the most obvious and that is the death of the physical body. However, there are other deaths that are symbolic in nature and yet every bit as real as a physical one. Consider the eagle, for instance, it becomes old and decrepit and seems as though it will now fly off to a mountain peak and die, however, it does not die but rather it experiences some form of resurrection and returns in full strength. We too can be reduced as the eagle and have symbolic deaths; there is the death of being reduced when everything you have is stripped away, it is this death that makes one feel as if their life is negated and reduced to rubble. Then there is the death that comes when one suffers physically in their body, lying in a prison with no sign of when it will end. Regardless of how this form of death comes to us it can reduce one to a pitiable state; it can be very traumatic and it can make one feel as though nothing is left. I believe that there are many reading this today who can say, “That describes where I am today”.

Somehow, I feel led to pray that this upcoming year be a time of being taken from that pitiful death like experience to a new life, a resurrection life where strength and anointing are increased and where the power of God is realized in a new way. For those who read this and feel God quickening these thoughts to them I recommend that as a New Years resolution you begin to seek the one who is the Resurrection and the Life for a fresh resurrection of His power in your life!

He that beleiveth in Me – this phrase needs to be expounded a bit; He is not simply saying he that has faith in my name, He is saying he that believes in me. This is the type of confidence a child puts in their parent or the confidence that one brother has in another brother. If there was one thing I could count on in my younger days it was that my older brother would protect me; when I would get into trouble he would even shield me at times. I remember one occasion when we both got into trouble he actually hid me and took the punishment that we should have shared; I always had confidence in him. This is what this means when it says “He that believes in me”; it means we believe He will take good care of us. Do we believe God will take care of us? Our God is a wonderful being and He knows those who have confidence in Him that no matter what life throws at them they believe in Him, they are sure He will come through. This is the person God is looking for today; He wants believers!!

Though he were dead yet shall he live – This is very much the point of the whole matter…”Though he were dead yet shall he live”.  2010 brought many great trials of faith to the fellowship I belong to (in the form of health problems, injuries, domestic problems as well as a plethora of personal struggles and bondages). It seems there has been an all out assault from the enemy; you wonder at times how you will go on. But no matter how much pressure comes upon us and no matter how much fire comes or how low one is brought, for the one who has this promise and continues to believe in Him this is the faithful declaration “…Yet shall he live!” God has the power to uphold, God has the power to preserve and for the ones who find His favor He is the resurrection and the Life and they shall live (Pro 16:15 “In the light of the king's countenance is life; and his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.”)

And so finally, let us be of good cheer in this upcoming year and let’s believe He will turn our mourning into dancing; let us “believe in Him”, that He can bring life into our dark circumstances and produce life where it seemed there was only death!!